This story originally appeared in the June 23 edition of the weekly LINK Reader. To get these stories first, subscribe at linknky.com/subscribe.
Gathering with a small group of family at a private beachfront community in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Cooper High School’s Yamil Rondon is 1,800 miles away from his Burlington neighborhood, and he is bored. It’s not a customary state for the 16-year-old young man in motion.
He has his phone, which helps. And he bought a new black outdoor basketball the first day he was there. He’s been able to shoot around with it on the basketball courts at Playas del Yunque near Rio Mar Beach when he’s not playing with some of the best teenagers in Puerto Rico.
“It’s nice being here, but it’s not like being home,” Rondon said during a series of telephone conversations. “I really needed a basketball when I got here. I sleep with my basketball.”
This is Rondon’s third visit to the unincorporated territory of the United States. He was between tryouts for the Puerto Rico 17-under boys’ national basketball team taking place in San Juan, which is about a four-hour flight from Kentucky.
“It’s beautiful. The water’s pretty. Coconuts are laying on the ground. The food’s really good. But there’s not a lot to do, and it’s too hot,” Rondon said. “It feels like 100 degrees.”
Heat is a constant in Puerto Rico, much like palm trees, red and yellow flower blooms, the many colorful homes and rainbow stairs that dot the communities. Factor in humidity, and the feels-like temperature ranged from highs between 100 and 120 degrees while Rondon was there.
One of three children of parents from the island, Rondon is Puerto Rican. But he’s not from Puerto Rico, so the unrelenting heat is something new. He was born in Cincinnati and has lived in Northern Kentucky his entire life.
Rondon is a rising junior at Cooper, with an accent on rising. He improved in every way as a sophomore, averaging 13.5 points and 2.5 steals per game with solid shooting percentages for last season’s 9th Region Tournament finalist. He’s hanging out in his adopted home for a few weeks with his aunt and his little brother.
Partly because of his father’s playing reputation and largely because of his own, Rondon got the attention of Puerto Rican coaches who invited him to try out for the 17-U national squad. But his most recent trip to the island didn’t go as planned.
Rondon missed the first practice because his flight to Puerto Rico was delayed. Once there, Rondon’s father got sick and was sent back to Kentucky out of an abundance of caution. Rondon would not be an emerging star at Cooper if his father had not become ill when he was 16 and flown from Puerto Rico to Cincinnati for a liver transplant.
After the transplant, his father stayed in the area to be close to his doctors. He eventually moved to Burlington with his family and watched Yamil play basketball. What began as trips with his dad to Stringtown Park basketball courts in Florence as an onlooking 3-year-old became trips to Puerto Rico with a chance to play on an international level.
“He’s following in his father’s footsteps,” said his aunt, Lisandra. “His father, Angel Rondon, was very well known here. He was always going up against older players, just like Yamil.”
Being the lone 16-year-old trying out for the 17-U team wasn’t easy for the 6-foot point guard, especially with his father having a medical emergency, but it was worthwhile.
“Basketball is my peaceful place,” he said. “It helps me get away from it all.”
Basketball is also taking him places. By the time this article hits newsstands, Rondon is either on his way to Belize with the 17-U squad or heading back to Kentucky. Either way, he is a college basketball recruiting battle waiting to happen.
“What a great story, a local kid playing on an international stage,” said Cooper basketball coach Tim Sullivan. “Yamil is a very unique young man. He’s always been told he’s too small or too slow, then he beats you. I think it’s his resiliency. There’s just a tenacity about him. He has much better days ahead.”
Sullivan expects college offers to arrive soon, especially when the points start piling up for Rondon, and his seeing-eye passes find their way through holes in the defense only he sees. If he approaches the height of his father, look out.
“To be 6-3 like my dad would be fabulous,” Rondon said. “I can almost dunk, but I would really be able to dunk. The doctor says I still have some room left in my growth plates, so there’s hope.”
There’s also this: Rondon is about to blow up huge this coming high school basketball season.
“He’s a guy that guys don’t like playing against,” coach Sullivan said. “He’ll find your weakness, exploit it and wear you out. We’re really looking forward to seeing him this season.”