Iowa women's basketball announced the signing of UCF transfer Emely Rodriguez on Monday. The 6-foot guard and forward visited the Hawkeyes last week and then Indiana the following day.
It's the Hawkeyes that emerge as the winner in this key recruitment, though.
Rodriguez averaged 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 40.9% from the field, 33.3% from 3-point range, and 75.3% from the free-throw line during her freshman campaign at UCF.
A member of the All-Big 12 Freshman Team, Rodriguez notched 16 double-figure scoring games, including a career-high 21 against Iowa State on Feb. 25. Rodriguez also registered a double-double against Montana State and collected five or more rebounds in 17 contests.
Originally from La Romana in the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez came to the United States in 2021 to chase her basketball dream. Rodriguez was recognized as the Miami Herald's Miami-Dade County Girls' Basketball Player of the Year for Classes 4A-2A in March of 2023 when she averaged 26.5 points per game and led Horeb Christian with 15.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
Rodriguez joins Chazadi "Chit-Chat" Wright as one of Iowa's transfer signees. Wright arrives in Iowa after appearing in all 33 games and starting 12 with Georgia Tech. Wright averaged 7.2 points, 2.6 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game while shooting 37.1% from the field, 32.3% from 3-point range and 88.6% from the free-throw line.
Wright was a four-star signee in the 2024 class for Georgia Tech. According to ESPN, Wright was the nation's No. 49 player overall and its No. 12 point guard.
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