Rick Apodaca

Did You Know?

• Apodaca was the all-time leader in points scored in Hudson County high school basketball history, surpassing a record held by Fox college basketball analyst Bill Raftery in 1999.
• He was inducted into the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame.
• Apodaca was selected to play in the Italian League All-Star Game during the 2006–07 season.
• He finished fourth in the Italian League in scoring with an average of 19.7 points per game in 2006–07.

College career

Apodaca began his NCAA career with Hofstra in 1999 and earned All-America East Rookie honors. As a junior, he averaged 17.7 points per game to lead the team and made the All-Colonial Athletic Association second team. He was named to the preseason All-CAA first team for his senior year but missed the first fourteen games of the 2005 season.

Professional career

In the 2005 off-season, the Arecibo Captains traded Apodaca to the San Germán Athletics for Larry Ayuso. He also played with the Huntsville Flight in the NBDL. Apodaca was a part of Polpak Swiecie in the 2005–06 season of the Polish League. During the 2006–07 season, Apodaca played with Scafati Basket in the LBA in Italy. He was selected to play in the league's All-Star Game and finished fourth in the league in scoring with an average of 19.7 points per game. Apodaca also played with the Turkish club Beşiktaş Cola Turka in that country's national league championship and in the EuroCup. He played with the Santurce Crabbers in the semifinals of the 2008 National Superior Basketball season.

National team career

Apodaca was a member of the senior Puerto Rican National Basketball Team starting in 2002. He played at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis and at the 2003 Pan American Games, in which Puerto Rico won the bronze medal. He also played at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and in a game where Puerto Rico defeated the United States. During that game, he suffered an injury that left him unable to compete in the rest of the tournament. Apodaca also competed with Puerto Rico at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan. In June 2008, the national team's management announced that Apodaca did not have a guaranteed spot on the roster. After that, Apodaca notified them on June 15, 2008, that he needed time to attend to some personal issues and to take time off to ponder about his national team future.