Rod Dean

Rod Dean is a former American basketball player. He has been described as "one of the greatest Canadian collegiate basketball players of all-time". He was the first four-time Canadian university ("CIAU") All-Canadian in basketball and remains one of the only athletes in history to accomplish this feat.

High school Dean played at the high school level at Upper Sandusky High School in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He was an All-Northern Ohio League first-team selection his senior season (1967–1968), where he averaged 16.3 points per game.

University

Dean played his freshman season (1968–69) at Ohio State University. Dean then transferred to Waterloo Lutheran University (renamed Wilfrid Laurier University in 1973) in the CIAU for the 1970–1971 season.

While at Waterloo Lutheran, ("WLU") Dean was selected as CIAU All-Canadian four times: once as a First-team All-Canadian (1971) and three times as a Second-team All-Canadian (1972, 1973, 1974). Dean was the first athlete in CIAU basketball history to be a four-time All-Canadian. Since Dean, only 13 other athletes have accomplished this feat.

In the 1970–71 season, Dean led Waterloo Lutheran to a fifth overall finish in the CIAU tournament. This season, he was named as a CIAU tournament all-star.

Dean also received recognition at the conference level. WLU was part of the Ontario Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ("OIAA") during Dean's first season (1970–71), with the OIAA being reformed into the Ontario Athletics Association ("OUA") the following season. Dean was a four-time First-team All-Conference selection (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974). In the 1972–73 season, Dean was second overall in the OUA in scoring. In the 1972–73 season, he set the WLU record for highest regular season points per game (22.7). Dean also ranks ninth overall in WLU career playoff points.

University regular season statistics + Year Team GP FG FG% FT FT% Rbds RPG Pts PPG 1970-71 Waterloo Lutheran 10 199 19.9 1971-72 Waterloo Lutheran 10 60-143 42.0 64-83 77.1 68 6.8 184 18.4 1972-73 Waterloo Lutheran 12 109-211 51.7 54-72 75.0 87 7.2 272 22.7 1973-74 Laurier 12 83-219 37.9 61-80 76.2 77 6.4 227 18.9 Career Waterloo Lutheran / Laurier 44 252-573 44.0 179-235 76.2 232 5.3 882 20.0

Post-career recognition Dean was inducted into WLU's athletic hall of fame in 1986 as part of its first inductee class. Dean was inducted into the Wyandot Sports Hall of Fame (2023), which recognizes athletic achievements in Wyandot County, Ohio. The Canada One Foundation, an organization run by Canadian national team alumni to preserve Canada basketball history, ranked Dean as one of the top 150 players in Canadian basketball history.