By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – When Caelum Swanton-Rodger walked onto the Chartway Arena court Saturday for Senior Day ceremonies, he was arm and arm with his mother. As cheers rose from the crowd of nearly 5,000, he pulled his arm away briefly and used his hands to make the sign of a heart back toward the Old Dominion fans.
The gesture, please excuse the pun, came straight from his heart, because in spite of the difficulties he and his teammates have experienced the last two years, he’s loved his time at ODU.
A 7-foot center from Calgary, Alberta in western Canada, he transferred to ODU after two seasons at Maryland. He didn’t play a lot with the Terps and didn’t make a lot of progress.
But he’s made a ton of progress since coming at ODU. And the ODU fans? He’s truly appreciative for how they have turned out and supported him and his teammates the last two seasons.
“Our fans have been so amazing,” he said. “When I was at Maryland, we’d have one bad game and all of a sudden, we’d have no more home crowd.
“Here, it’s been the exact opposite. They show up every night. They’re amazing every game and honestly, their support has been phenomenal.”
Swanton-Rodger plays his final home game today at Chartway Arena when ODU hosts Louisiana at 5 p.m. And for Swanton-Rodger, his college career has gone by far too quickly.
He said he loved his time at Maryland, and learned a lot playing in the Big Ten.
“It’s a great school,” he said. “And the people there and in College Park were amazing. They treated me like family. I felt at home there.
“But I just didn’t get the opportunities to play there as much as I wanted to.”
Indeed, he played just 79 minutes as a freshman, and acknowledges that with hindsight, he should have redshirted his first season.
“It was never talked about,” he said. “We just all assumed I would play right away.
“I should have redshirted.”
He averaged six minutes and 1.5 points per game as a sophomore and realized, he would have to go somewhere else to develop. As it so happened, Mike Jones was a Maryland assistant who had just been named ODU’s head coach.
“I thought a lot of him at Maryland. It just made sense to follow him to ODU,” Swanton-Rodger said.
He’s been a two-year starter for the Monarchs and has filled a big void for Jones, who doesn’t have as much size on his front line as he would have liked.
“When he entered the portal and we reached out to him, the first thing I told him was is that I know how talented you are and that you want to play,” Jones said. “You’re going to have an opportunity to play here.
“You never want to promise a young man anything. But I told him if you do what you’re supposed to do, you’re going to play as much basketball as you want to over the next two years.”
The primary thing that has limited Swanton-Rodger’s playing time this season has been his propensity to get into foul trouble. In 14 of ODU’s 26 games, he has spent time on the bench with four fouls.
His numbers are much better than his first three seasons – 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and nearly two blocked shots in 20 minutes per game. He’s shooting 63 percent from the field and has been on a roll in recent games – he’s averaged 15.2 points and 6.6 rebounds in ODU’s last three outings.
Like most Canadian boys, he grew up playing hockey. He also played basketball, which was a good thing because by age 12, he was already too big for the hockey rink.
“It got tough to find pads and skates,” he said.
He said kids gave him a hard time when he was younger for his hyphenated last name – the last names of his parents, Jason and Kim.
“When I was growing up, I kind of had an issue with it,” he said. “It was just so many words. So I just went by Caelum Rodger for the longest time.
“But recently, I’ve become more accepting of it. It’s got a good ring to it. CSR.”
He was born in British Columbia and moved to Calgary when he was five years old. Alberta is kind of like Canada’s Texas. It’s oil country, and conservative. There’s movement there to secede from Canada and become an independent nation.
“I love my hometown,” he said. “I love the Stampede,” he added, referring to a 10-day rodeo held in Calgary. “I grew up going to ranches and got to be outside a lot. That was really special for me.”
Swanton-Rodger is outdoorsy. He likes to hike and fish and recently purchased a truck, a 2000 Tacoma, which he is working on trying to get it in running condition. He recently installed a lift kit on the truck.
“The truck, that’s my baby,” he said.
Jones said, “He cooks his own food and really takes care of his body.
“He does a lot of things that maybe most student-athletes this day and age don’t necessarily do.”
His parents knew his future was in basketball and as a junior he transferred from Winston Churchill High to Edge High School, which is known for producing athletic talent.
He had offers from Montana State and Illinois and then finally an offer from Maryland.
Jones said Swanton-Rodger stayed at ODU his senior year in spite of more lucrative NIL offers from other schools.
“He could have left here after last year and made a ton of money because he’s a 7-footer who moves the way he moves,” Jones said. “He’s intelligent and has a great skill level.
“Bigs are the most expensive position in basketball. You don’t have to have all of those gaudy stats to get a lot of money.
“But he didn’t even really think about going anywhere else because he loves this place and was obviously relishing an opportunity to play.”
“Obviously, our records haven’t been what we wanted the last two years,” Swanton-Rodger said. “We’re in a transitional period, a period of growth at the school, and it will take some time.
“But I have had a great time here. My teammates are amazing and we have an amazing coaching staff. I love all of them.
“Do I wish these last two seasons had gone a little better? Yeah, but you know, this is a great group of guys and I think there are very positive things for the future of this program.”
ODU has won three of its last four games and the loss was to Marshall, which is fourth in the Sun Belt standings, by two points.
“There’s still a lot of basketball left to play,” Swanton-Rodger said. “Last year we were 10th in the standings and went into the Sun Belt Tournament needing to win six games.”
The Monarchs won three games before losing to eventual champion Troy.
“Our goal is to get our seeding the best we can and make a run,” Swanton-Rodger said. “Coach has been really harking on that and reminding us every day. We have the conference standings up in our film room.
“We look at it every day. It’s a reminder that we need to lock in and get those wins.”
He said living in America has been fantastic. Likely, next season, he will be living in another foreign country.
“I’ve talked to some agents,” he said. “I hope to play in Europe, in Italy, Belgium, or Germany.”
He will graduate with a degree in business management in May and said he will work on an MBA while overseas.
“Cal is going to be playing basketball a long time,” Jones said. “He has all the attributes that will have a lot of people wanting him to be a part of their organization.
“It’s been such an honor and a pleasure to coach this young man.”
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
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