Rodriguez makes his choice

Kansas State's pipeline to Miami is now officially flowing strong. As the early signing period arrives, K-State picked up its third recruit of this class, as Miami area point guard Angel Rodriguez chose the Wildcats and plans to sign with Frank Martin in the spring signing period.

After cutting his initial list of possible suitors down to three, and taking visits to K-State, North Carolina State and Louisville, the final decision came down on Tuesday afternoon. According to Rodriguez, who made his choice public on Wednesday, everything hinged on the opportunity for early playing time.

"I decided yesterday," he said. "It was between Louisville and K-State. Both situations were great, but I feel like Kansas State is much better for me. I'm looking to play a lot as a freshman. At Kansas State, I'll play a lot more than I would at Louisville."

Rodriguez, who called coaches at all three schools to announce his decision this afternoon, points to his relationship with the Wildcats coaching staff as well as the experience he had during an Oct. 15 visit to Manhattan, where he took in the Wildcats' Midnight Madness event as the driving forced behind the decision. Still, it would seem K-State's up-tempo style of play also figured in.

"They run up and down, that's how I play," Rodriguez said. "That's perfect for me."

His commitment serves as yet another reminder of a long-standing relationship between Martin and the Miami basketball scene. Rodriguez's high school coach, Marcos "Shakey" Rodriguez served as Martin's mentor during his time at Miami Senior High, while Art Alvarez, the guard's AAU coach, is one of his closest personal friends.

Angel Rodriguez is set to graduate from Dr. Krop High School in May, but has decided to wait until the spring signing period to put the ink on a national letter of intent.

"I'm just doing the verbal commitment thing today," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez held scholarship offers from more than five Division-I schools, including Miami and Florida, but cut his list down to three just weeks ago.

K-State is expected to announce the signings of forwards Adrian Diaz and Thomas Gipson later this week