Aalyah Del Rosario Brings Size, Energy, and Trust to Vanderbilt’s Bench
Aalyah Del Rosario Brings Key Depth
Contributions come in all ways, and one of the backbones of a great basketball team is the play from the bench. Throughout the Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball season, we’ve seen players come in and give quality minutes in ways that benefited the team in multiple ways.
While most point to scoring, that is not the only measure of success. Everyone has their role.
If you look at Aalyah Del Rosario’s stat sheet, you won’t be blown away by points scored or even minutes played, but she has provided the Commodores with some important time lately.
Standing at 6’6″, Del Rosario has brought some needed size and solid work, especially when Vanderbilt’s bigs have found themselves in foul trouble here and there, and when facing teams with length and stature in the post, that is where Aaliyah matches that need.
Between the Oklahoma and Texas games, she recorded 10 minutes per game and you could see the work she has put in showing on the court in big time games. These were against top 10 teams in the country, and Del Rosario was up for it. Not only was she huge on the defensive side with key blocks and rebounds, but her vision to find the open shooter on the offensive end said a bunch about her focus in the moment.
Yesterday, I asked Coach Shea Ralph if she could speak on the contributions from Del Rosario over the last couple of weeks, and also what more she is looking for going forward from her. The first thing she mentioned was the energy she brings.
“Aalyah is a joy to have on the team. She’s a huge energy booster, energy giver. She’s incredible in the locker room,” said Ralph. “She’s probably in my office more than I’m in my office, just to come through and say hi. And you just have to have somebody like that, you know, whether she’s playing or not. She brings great energy.”
That in itself is a form of leadership in my opinion. Leaders don’t always have to be the highest scorers or the best player on the team, but how you go about your day to day and what you can bring to the team, even if you don’t play much, says more about you than what happens during the game. Things like that, fans don’t see or know about.
“She’s a great voice to have on the team. She’s paying attention and which is why she’s able to contribute, whether her number is called early or late. She comes in knowing what she needs to do, and the team trusts her,” Ralph explained.
There is always improvement and work to be done, and for Del Rosario to be more of a contributor to the Commodores, she has to continue sharpening up on her abilities to provide. Shea Ralph would like to be able to depend on her for longer periods of time on the floor. With the postseason around the corner, the need for depth is crucial.
“What I’d like to see of her more moving forward is just continuing to work on being in a position physically, mentally, and emotionally to contribute,” Ralph said. “So, she’s a big body that we need, we’ve gotta be able to play her for longer stretches, which means she’s gotta be in great shape and keep working on that, as the year continues to go on.”
With the continued work and confidence built, I definitely would not sleep on Aalyah Del Rosario taking great steps going forward to be even more of a contributing factor for the Vanderbilt Commodores. With the post season coming soon, I would look for more Del Rosario minutes.
