PISCATAWAY, NJ — Columbia guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic with Basketball instilled in his blood. His Basketball ties are through his father, uncle and several other relatives, who all played.
“They were all good players back in the day and those were all guys I modeled my game after,” Rubio De La Rosa told Latino Sports after Columbia’s 91-64 loss to Rutgers on Monday night.
Carving out a leadership role for Columbia as a senior, Rubio De La Rosa has worked his way up the totem pole.
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa in warm-ups on Monday night before Columbia vs. Rutgers – Image Credit: Columbia Men’s Basketball
His head coach Jim Engles spoke about his development following the loss:
“He’s really a unique college basketball story. He was recruited through the pandemic. We did not play so I had to justify my salary watching high school games in states that were still playing and Texas was one of them. I watched most of his games and saw him on tape.
From the day he stepped on our campus he’s been our best player. That’s why you do this — a kid like that who comes from a challenging background from the Dominican Republic and moved to the states. He’s at Columbia, he’s going to graduate with a Columbia degree. His year this year has been amazing. He’s honestly why you do this as a coach.”
Columbia Athletics, and head coach Jim Engles celebrated Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa’s 1,000 career point milestone last March – Image Credit: Columbia Men’s Basketball
In the loss on Monday at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey, Rubio De La Rosa scored 17 points, three assists, and three rebounds. Despite a tough shooting display as a team, Columbia still stands 11-2 on the season.
The 6-foot-2 guard is scoring a career high 19.4 points per game, and just came off winning Ivy League Player of the Week on December 30 with 27 points in a win against Fairfield on December 28. He is shooting lights out from the field this season with an over .90 percent success rate at the free throw line and is 42.2 percent from deep.
Moreover, Rubio De La Rosa overcame tremendous odds moving to San Francisco from the D.R. to play high school basketball at 16-years-old. He started out at Brookside Christian High School in Stockton, California for three seasons then moved to Spring Creek Academy in Plano, Texas where he was discovered by Engles his senior year of high school.
Guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa grew up playing baseball in the D.R., and his favorite MLB player currently is Juan Soto – Image Credit: Columbia Men’s Basketball
In addition, there was always a strong love for Baseball, which is natural for Rubio De La Rosa because baseball is life in the Dominican. He grew up in the same home town (Santiago, Dominican Republic) as newly signed San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames. He still watches baseball to this day and his favorite player is New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto.
“I started playing baseball first then everybody else started playing basketball, so I switched to that since I was the only one left playing baseball,” Rubio De La Rosa said.
He’s a gifted athlete that has gotten better each season he’s been at Columbia, increasing his scoring by five points per game from last season. Also, his Dominican roots never get lost or unrecognized on the court, as Rubio De La Rosa explained.
“The pride that we (Dominicans) take on it. We are so energetic and I just love representing our country.”
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa represents his Dominican roots each time he steps on the court. You can watch our full interview with Geronimo on our X/Twitter – Image Credit: Columbia Men’s Basketball
He had a monumental task going against Rutgers stars Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, but did not back down from the challenge, crossing Harper up in the first half and driving to the basket for an easy layup.
“It was fun, it was good competition,” he said. “It was just what we expected: good guys, good players, and it was great.”
Rutgers Stars Ace Bailey & Dylan Harper Dominate Columbia
Rutgers star guard Ace Bailey was on the cusp of stealing the show with 17 first half points, but he wasn’t to be outdone by fellow guard and Franklin Lakes, New Jersey native Dylan Harper. The freshman duo went nuts, combining for 40 points with 24 from Bailey and 16 from Harper.
Harper made Rutgers history, recording the first triple double by a Scarlet Knight in 41 years with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. His 10th assist to cement the triple double was to none other but Bailey.
Ace Bailey dropped 24 points in Rutgers’ win over Columbia on Monday night – Image Credit: Rutgers Men’s Basketball
Bailey was asked postgame if Harper knew about the triple double.
“He told me after, he was like thank you.’”
Later in the postgame, Latino Sports asked Bailey, what it’s like to play with such a dynamic talent like Harper.
“It is a blessing. Not everyone gets to play with him. We appreciate him just being in that position and doing whatever we need. Whether it is a rebound, a pass or a score, he always puts his teammates in a good position to be successful,” Bailey said.
Dylan Harper recorded his first-career triple double on Monday night, which marked the first by a Rutgers player in 41 years – Image Credit: Rutgers Men’s Basketball
Harper is leading the team in scoring with 22.4 points per game along with 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Bailey is averaging 17.6 points per game and leads the team with 7.6 rebounds.
Two studs, who are projected lottery picks in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft, and a duo who have the potential to make noise for Rutgers this season across the nation.
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