Largo star Aleah Rodriguez reflects on surpassing 1,000 career points and her basketball family

Senior girls basketball standout achieves a major milestone, while leading the Lions, balancing a rich basketball family legacy and her college aspirations

Largo's Aleah Rodriguez, the sister of UConn player Qadence Samuels and a brother who plays professionally in Europe, is making her own mark on the game. / Aleah Rodriguez Instagram/tjnotedited

Largo High School (Maryland) senior shooting guard Aleah Rodriguez has put on a show for the last two years at the Prince George’s County school. Most recently, the 5-foot-8 shooting guard just surpassed 1,000 points for her high school career.

One month ago, back on December 27th, Rodriguez hit an And-1 to cross the 1,000-point milestone in a 57-46 victory over Gerstell Academy during the Rosedale Christian Academy Holiday Tournament in the Baltimore area.

“It felt good,” said Rodriguez. “We were having a pretty good game, and it was a good moment. Good energy from everyone. All my teammates were happy. My parents were able to be there.”

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— Aleah Rodriguez (@AleahRod06) December 28, 2024

It was also a very special moment for Rodriguez’s coach, Ayana Ball-Ward, who is also the Lions’ athletic director.

“It was a good feeling,” said Ball-Ward, “knowing that she accomplished one of her goals that she set out to do this season. She wanted to do it last season, but she came up a little short.”

Rodriguez was born on February 17th, 2006 in New Jersey. Her parents are Shanda and Qwanzi Samuels, who are both teachers. Rodriguez moved from New Jersey to Maryland when she was around eight or nine years old, and currently lives in District Heights.

“When I moved to Maryland, I was just always around [basketball],” said Rodriguez. “I just fell in love with it at a young age.”

Rodriguez also comes from a basketball family. She has seven siblings, including her older sister Qadence Samuels, who is currently a sophomore for the UConn women’s basketball team, and her older brother Qwanzi, who currently plays professionally in Hungary, and previously played college basketball at Florida Gulf Coast, George Washington, and IU Indianapolis.

Rodriguez also has a couple younger siblings, Qaden and Qandace, who both play basketball at Bishop McNamara and are top 10 in their respective classes.

“We basically do everything together,” said Rodriguez. “We work out together, try to go to as many games as we can. We’re like each other’s biggest critics. It’s good to see that all the work they’ve put in all come out.”

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For high school, Rodriguez actually started playing hoops at the National Christian Academy in Oxon Hill, before transferring to Largo in 2023.

“For basketball, it was a big switch,” said Rodriguez. “At National Christian, it was only five of us on the team, so I was kind of doing everything. But then when I switched to Largo, I had other teammates I could rely on.

From then on, Rodriguez adjusted to the switch to the Lions girls basketball team well by learning under Coach Ball-Ward, who has helped Aleah with her leadership skills and overall game.

“It’s been a breath of fresh air having someone transfer into our program having a skill set such as hers,” said Ball-Ward. “Being in public school, we’re not allowed to recruit, so we get what comes into the building. Usually, you just have to use that talent and build that talent up.”

Last season in her first year at Largo, Rodriguez’s team made it as far as the second round of the Maryland 2A state playoffs where they lost to Gwynn Park. With the Lions currently at 5-2 this season, Rodriguez hopes to end her senior season with a state title, much like the Largo boys team did in 2024.

“[Gwynn Park] is one of our rival schools,” said Rodriguez. “It’s always competitive, always a tense game. I always look forward to that. We just try to give them our best every chance we can.”

It’s amazing how Rodriguez has been able to dominate for the Largo girls basketball team while her classmate Cam Ward has been setting records for the Lions boys basketball team at the same time. In fact, the two student-athletes have known each other for a while now.

“Me and Cam went to middle school together,” said Rodriguez. “He’s kind of like my brother. It’s good to see how far he’s come, and how good he’s doing now.”

Cam also happens to be the son of Ball-Ward, whose husband Rodney coaches the boys basketball team at Largo.

“Aleah’s like my adopted daughter now,” Ball-Ward joked. “To see them interact with each other all day, they definitely have that brother-sister bond where they fight each other, and then they’re their biggest cheerleaders at the games.”

Rodriguez feels inspired by Cam and the Largo boys basketball team winning the Maryland 2A state championship last year, hoping the same thing can happen to the girls team in 2025. “I couldn’t go to the game,” said Rodriguez. “But seeing all of them happy and celebrating, it was a good feeling.”

Outisde of Largo, Rodriguez also has extensive experience in Nike’s Girls Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), where she has played club basketball for Team Takeover.

“It’s been great,” said Rodriguez. “I’ve been playing with them since I started playing basketball. Just learning from other people that came before me, it’s been a really good experience.”

Rodriguez is also a huge fan of NBA star Kevin Durant, who happens to be one of her basketball idols and hails from the DMV. “It’s a cool feeling knowing that I could reach his level, his type status,” said Rodriguez.

As for playing basketball in college, Rodriguez isn’t quite sure where she wants to go yet. But her big decision is expected to be announced this spring. “I don’t really have my mindset on anywhere yet,” said Rodriguez. “But I think I’m going to stay around the DMV area.”

As the mother of a Michigan State commit (Cam), Coach Ball-Ward also feels confident in Aleah’s college basketball future.

“She definitely has all the skills and attributes needed to play at the next level,” said Ball-Ward. “We have a couple of schools that are interested in her right now, and we’re just going to keep building that interest and finally make a decision in April or May.”