Roddy Once Again Bets on Himself and Wins
Junior becomes third Ram selected in first-round of NBA Draft
David Roddy bet on himself.
Thursday night it paid off, as the Mountain West player of the year became the third player in Colorado State history to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, going 23rd overall by the Philadelphia 76ers, who had agreed to trade the pick to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Surrounded by friends and family at his Minnesota home, he took the phone call telling him he was going to be selected, sending the gathering into a frenzy. Then they settled in to hear the announcement of his name, preceded by the fact it was part of a trade agreement.
His belief in himself was validated.
“It’s an eternal weight that’s been lifted, I tell you that,” Roddy said. “Again, I’m a man of faith, so I put God before anything. I really developed a great and closer relationship with him over the past year and a half, and that was really the impetus to how I was playing so well and with freedom and confidence and trusting he’s guiding my path.
“Again, it’s not what I wanted to do was go to the NBA and leave the guys and my teammates behind, but it’s what I needed to do, to trust him more. I cannot believe that just happened, that fast. I thought I was going to wait there for a while.”
He is the first Ram to be picked in the first round since Jason Smith went to the 76ers in 2007 with the 20th selection. Bill Green was the sixth pick overall by Boston in 1963. The last Ram to be selected was Colton Iverson in 2013, taken by Indiana in the second round with the 53rd choice.
Because of the player Roddy is – versatile with the ability to be physically dominant but lacking the type of body that made him and ideal fit for any one position – there were questions for him and others as he declared for the draft. If one was scouring mock drafts, there was no consensus on Roddy. What gave him the confidence the time was right was the feedback he received from teams as he did individual workouts and interviews.
So, around the time of the 19th pick, he started clutching his phone. Just in case. Naturally, he’s excited about joining the Grizzlies, a young team filled with promise with one of the league’s brightest young stars, Ja Morant.
“Who doesn’t know about Memphis? Again, it’s such a gritty and competitive group of guys,” he said. “Just from watching film as well as going there and working out for them, that was something that was great. I look up to those guys and have a severe respect for those guys switching the culture around, similar to what we did at CSU. Uber competitors everywhere. Great leadership, as well. I’m just glad to add to that winning program and hopefully we’ll build a championship soon. I’m going to absorb it like a sponge and help the team win.”
I don’t know how to collect my thoughts about it, or grasp it. I’m just on adrenaline right now.David Roddy
CSU head coach Niko Medved made the trip, as did assistant Ali Farokhmanesh, director of basketball administration Emma Monte, as well as teammate Isaiah Stevens, who paid his way out there to be with his roommate and teammate.
For Medved, Roddy becomes his first player drafted as a head coach, and he went in the first round. Medved was flooded in emotion at seeing it transpire.
You know, just as he expected from the first time he watched Roddy play.
“I mean, heck, I knew he’d be a first rounder after his junior year when I saw him in high school, I mean, come on,” Medved said. “This is just incredible. I think it’s so hard for people to understand, it’s all the hard work physically, but it’s an emotional investment and dreams. In this moment, to see it all come out like that, it’s as special as it gets. As everybody knows, David, the player that he is, a first-round NBA draft choice, is even a better human being. To see this happen for somebody like him, it’s really special. I’m just so proud of him.
“That’s kind of the story of his life. He’s always believed in himself, he’s always bet on himself and he’s always known what he’s wanted and what feels right to him. He bet on himself, and he’s won big every time.”
Roddy helped the Rams win big, too.
In his three seasons, the team improved every year, starting with a 20-12 season, going to 20-8 in a pandemic-shortened year, then vaulting to 25-6 and earning Colorado State’s first invitation to the NCAA Tournament since 2013.
His game improved every season, as well. He increased his scoring output, averaging 19.2 per game, as well as his assist totals, sitting at 2.9. Most notable of all, his 3-point shooting ability skyrocketed him to a new stratosphere, hitting at a 43.8 percent clip. In all three categories, his numbers have increased each year.
He leaves having averaged 15.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He set a school record this past season with 222 field goals, scoring 595 points to rank third in a single campaign. For a career, he sits ninth in career scoring with 1,406 points and in the top 20 in field goals made, rebounds, blocked shots, free throws made, scoring average and blocked shots average.
“David’s going to be a good pro because he’s a terrific player,” Medved said. “He’s got an unbelievable skill set and talent, but it’s all the other things, too, which are the separators for him. He’s got an unbelievable toughness, competitiveness, IQ, character … Just the whole thing. He’s got all the intangibles which are off the charts. I think that’s going to be the separator for him.
“The best part of what we do is to see young people come in and achieve their dreams as a team and individuals. The cool thing about David is he’s put everything he had into the team and the program, then to see him get everything in return out of that is what it’s all about.”
In the moment he realized his dream, Roddy still felt like he was in a dream state. Even a half hour later. He was a first-round pick, but none of it felt real. There was excitement and tears of joy and hugs all around. Still, none of it had settled in, not quite yet.
Surreal fit the moment, but he also knows all the hard work he put in to reach the point was really just getting started. What follows is the next level, the grandest stage of all shared by the best players in the world. Once again, he’ll leave nothing to chance. Just like the two-sport star who felt his best chance was heading to Colorado State and trusting Medved and his program was the perfect fit to build his game and him as a person.
Roddy just knew. He was ready, and Thursday night proved his point. Again.
“I don’t know how to collect my thoughts about it, or grasp it,” he said. “I’m just on adrenaline right now.”