Friar Basketball
Home / General News / 15 in 40: #11 Bullock Arrives

15 in 40: #11 Bullock Arrives

bullockpreview

When Rodney Bullock committed to Providence in early October of last year the news was a surprise to some, as the 6’7 forward had flown below the radar in certain corners. After a breakout sophomore season that saw him average over 18 points per game, Bullock’s production dipped as a junior, with his scoring average sliding to 14.3 ppg.

Ed Cooley had seen enough of Bullock though. The Friar head coach got a feel for Bullock’s game when down in Virginia to see high school and AAU teammate Josh Fortune, and offered Bullock a scholarship when he was in Providence for PC’s first elite camp in August 2012. A month and a half later Bullock made it official — he would be a Friar.

Soon after, all memories of a quiet junior year were wiped away with a terrific senior season.

In Bullock’s senior year the production met the potential. Kecoughtan head coach Ivan Thomas (one of the most successful coaches in Virginia) saw the potential early in his career, inserting Bullock into practices with the varsity team when he was in the 8th grade, and playing him enough as a freshman to see him average eight points a night at 15 years old.

Bullock was firmly on the recruiting map in Virginia as a sophomore, with the Hampton Daily Press’s Dave Johnson calling him one to watch to Friarbasketball as far back as 2011.

His sophomore year didn’t disappoint, scoring the aforementioned 18 a night, but it was his senior season that turned him into a star in Hampton.

During that final year at Kecoughtan, Bullock was named the district player of the year ahead of names like McDonald’s All American Anthony Barber and top 50 recruit Troy Williams. He did so behind a senior year that saw him average a shade under 22 points and 16 rebounds per game, a season that saw him score 39 points on 15-21 shooting against Bethel in December and then grab an astounding 31 rebounds in a game two months later.

Bullock steps into a relative pressure-free situation as a freshman. Providence returns a similar type of player in junior LaDontae Henton, the frontcourt gets deeper with the additions of Tyler Harris and Carson Desrosiers, and expectations have been set high for fellow freshman Brandon Austin, with CBS’s Jon Rothstein telling anyone who will listen that Austin is the Big East’s best freshman.

At 6’7, there have been question as to whether Bullock will play out his Friar career at small forward, or the 4, but Cooley told the Hampton Daily Press last year that he’s less concerned about position and more focused on production, comparing him to former BC star Jared Dudley, “He has that kind of versatility. He can score multiple ways and has a good basketball IQ. Those are the type of players we want at Providence College.

“I don’t identify guys by position, I identify them as players. That’s one reason why he reminds me of Dudley and (Ryan) Gomes, because those guys were players. I like position-less guys.”

In an interview with Friarbasketball’s Craig Leighton two weeks ago, Bullock pointed to the smaller campus environment and his relationship with the coaching staff as key factors in selecting Providence. He said he’s grown close to Austin (who he noted he knew on the AAU circuit) while describing himself as a player who can “really shoot the ball” and as “a great rebounder.”

He made enough shots to score nearly 1,800 points in what turned out to be an outstanding high school career.

There is perhaps no other player on the roster that Friartown has to become more familiar with, but Cooley and his staff saw enough of him a year ago to make Bullock the first member of their third recruiting class in Providence.

Bullock took it from there.

 

 

You must be logged in to post a comment Login