Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com is once again recognizing a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of Jan. 6, 2026)
Every athlete has a story to tell. Camryn Rodriguez’s is a bit more unusual than most. To sum it up, the Neshaminy senior was cut from the basketball team in eighth grade, tried out again as a freshman, made the team, took her sophomore year off, came back her junior year and struggled. It would have been easy and probably made sense if Rodriguez had opted to walk away from basketball, but she didn’t. Instead, she put her nose to the grindstone and worked hard in the offseason. She is now a contributor on the varsity, coming off the bench but getting starter’s minutes. “I didn’t know what to expect from her coming into her senior year,” Neshaminy coach John Gallagher said. “After her junior year, I was like, ‘I don’t know if she’s going to be able to do anything.’ Then June came, and I’m like, ‘All right, she’s doing better,’ and then it just exploded for her.Rebounding-wise, she’s our leading rebounder per minutes played. She’s really tough around the basket. I haven’t utilized her that much from the outside, but we just got out of practice, and she hit a bunch of shots for us during our scrimmage and our breakdown drills, so she has the range.”
It’s certainly not what Gallagher expected after a junior year that was tough sailing for Rodriguez. “Her junior year she really lost a lot from what was going on after her freshman year as far as ability, and she didn’t play really any varsity minutes at all,” the Redskins’ coach said. “She contributed well on the JV again. Over the summer she put in a ton of work. She just got better and better and stronger and stronger. She went to a lot of elite camps for Division II and IIIs, and I would get calls or texts from coaches saying, ‘This kid’s really doing good.’ I didn’t know what to expect from her coming into her senior year.”
Rodriguez acknowledged it was not easy. “My junior year, it was hard getting back because – one, the team I left was not the team I came back to,” she said. “It was a barrier getting to know a whole new group of people and also now being an upperclassman when I’ve only had a year under my belt. I felt like a young kid coming in to the older kids, but I really was the older kid. I had to step up to the plate a lot, and I was there but wasn’t at the same time. It was just a very rough period. Coming home from practices junior year, I was like, ‘I don’t even know what I’m doing.’”
A postseason exit interview was the beginning of a change in mindset for Rodriguez. “We talked about everything,” she said. “The best thing I got from one of my coaches as a speech was – I’m a real team player, and I’m just a kid that gets everyone talking.” Some might have taken that as a compliment. Rodriguez was not in that number. “It kind of hurt because I wanted to be known for how I was doing at basketball,” she said. “So, I was like, ‘Camryn, do you want to play basketball seriously?’ I was like, ‘Well, this is a sport I love, and I really want to dedicate myself,’ so I had to spend the entire summer just playing.”And so began a successful journey back to a sport she loves.
An excellent student, Rodriguez has always placed a high priority on academics. “School has always been a foundation,” she said. “My mom and dad expressed to me ‘Camryn, no matter what, school is important. So even though we had basketball practice going until 8 o’clock, I’d go to the gym afterwards. I’ve always been a gym head. The gym has been another home to me, and after that, I still stay up and do homework, making sure my grades are on point.” Rodriguez has her sights set on playing collegiate basketball and pursuing a nursing major. “My junior year I was sitting there thinking, ‘Camryn, we’re growing up. What do we think we’re going to be?’” she said. “You have the little dumb things as a kid – like astronaut, cop, whatever it is. I’m like, ‘Well, I want to make an impact.’ That’s always been my biggest thing. No matter what I do, I want to help people. I want to change lives. I want to put smiles on people’s faces, so I was like – what’s a great way to do that? Being a doctor doesn’t sound bad, but I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t know if I can go through all that schooling.’ I’m like, ‘Wait, there’s nurses.’ I looked into it, and it’s just lined up, and this seems like the best possible route for me.”
To read Rodriguez’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/camryn-rodriguez-00122439
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Jan. 6, 2026)
To longtime Souderton football coach Ed Gallagher, Nate Rusike was an unassuming kid who was alert and polite and got good grades in his math class. “I taught him in my Honors Algebra 2 class last fall, and I had no idea he was an athlete,” Gallagher said. “He was just a courteous, respectful young man who thanked me every day for teaching him.” The two began to develop a rapport that led to the topic of sports. “I soon found out that he was an excellent basketball player, which led to many conversations before and after class,” said Gallagher. “When basketball season ended, Nate started attending our offseason (football) workouts. I was excited to learn that he was interested in playing football, a sport he hadn’t played for several years.”
In fact, he had barely played at all. Recalled Rusike: “I’ve always wanted to do it, but I was more of a soccer kid when I was younger, but then my parents let me play, so it was like, ‘It’s my senior year, why not?’ So,
that’s why I did it.” While he always lived in the boundaries of the Souderton Area School District, the son of Grace Masakadza and Takura Rusike attended Archbishop Carroll for his freshman and sophomore years before transferring back to his home base. The switching schools may explain why Gallagher didn’t initially realize Rusike was athletically inclined. “Coach G was my math teacher last year coming (back) to Souderton,” said Rusike, who sports a 3.9 GPA. “I had him first block every day. We did have conversations, and he did know I was athletically able to play football, but it was also my football friends telling me to play as well.”
Although he was not big (5-11/6-0, 175 pounds), Rusike projected as at least a depth piece among a solid group of skill position players for Gallagher. “He was a quick learner, and his athleticism and coachability led to getting opportunities to play on both sides of the ball for us,” said Gallagher. For Gallagher, it was akin to waking up and finding money under his pillow.“Pretty awesome,” he said. “We had a good group of skilled players in place, and he just made the group even better.”
Souderton basketball coach Brendan Stanton coached at Pope John Paul II and dealt with the reality of multi-sport athletes, particularly those played football in addition to basketball, risking injury. While Rusike is one of his top weapons, the coach gave the experiment his blessing. “I was all for it,” Stanton said. “Basically, I was like, ‘It’s your decision. It’s your senior year. I’m not going to tell you that you can’t play football.’” What impressed Stanton was that Rusike didn’t stop working at basketball during football season. “He was in the gym, getting shots up on his own,” the Indians’ coach said. “He was still working on his own. He was in great shape and he still hasn’t missed a beat from Day One. There has been no rust at all, and I’m glad he was able to do both sports.”
While Rusike is putting his education first, Stanton absolutely thinks the skill level is there for his standout combo guard to continue his career. “He is a very strong kid,” said Stanton. “Nate really takes on a lot of tough assignments on defense. For example, in a win over Allentown Central Catholic earlier in the year, he was guarding guys who are 6-5 and 6-6. He is all about it. He wants to guard the other team’s best player. He is not scared of anybody. He will guard 6-8 guys if he has to. He’s just very versatile. He has been a great leader. He never complains. Whatever you ask him to do, he’ll do it for you. If I asked to run through a brick wall, he’d run through a brick wall. There is not much more that you can ask for than that.” If Rusike lands on a collegiate roster, Stanton believes that team will be getting an all-around asset. “He’s just an awesome kid with a very infectious personality,” he said. “He’s a humble kid, but he has a high energy and he takes everything seriously. he is just an awesome leader and a really connective and positive kid. He brings an energy into any room that he walks into. He is one of those kids who just brightens up any room.”
To read Rusike’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/nate-rusike-00122440
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