Rodriguez Gayle Jr. (born July 23, 2003) is an American college basketball player for the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference. He previously played for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Gayle was raised in Niagara Falls, New York. He started playing basketball at age four under the guidance of his father. Despite living in Niagara Falls, he chose to attend Lewiston-Porter High School in nearby Youngstown. He attended LewistonPorter for two years before transferring to Wasatch Academy for his final two years of high school basketball. After his senior season ended, he opted to transfer back to LewistonPorter to graduate, and to be closer to home.
Gayle was considered a consensus four-star recruit by ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals. On November 26, 2020, Gayle committed to play college basketball for Ohio State over offers from teams such as UConn, Syracuse, and Marquette.
As a freshman, Gayle started 11 of 35 games for Ohio State with the 2022âÂÂ23 Buckeyes, averaging 4.6 points per game. He received minimal playing time until the 2023 Big Ten tournament, assuming a larger role due to an injury to Brice Sensabaugh. In the final two games of Ohio State's season, Gayle set backtoback career-highs in points, scoring 15 against Michigan State and 20 against Purdue.
As a sophomore, Gayle started 35 of 36 games for the 2023âÂÂ24 Buckeyes, averaging 13.5 points per game, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists. On December 30, 2023, he scored a career-high 32 points against West Virginia. With head coach Chris Holtmann being fired during the season, Gayle entered the NCAA transfer portal after the conclusion of the season.
On April 22, 2024, Gayle transferred from Ohio State University to the University of Michigan, to play under new head coach Dusty May. As a junior, he started 25 games for the 2024âÂÂ25 Wolverines before finding his role off the bench. Gayle helped lead Michigan to a Big Ten championship in the 2025 Big Ten tournament. On March 22, in the Second Round of the 2025 NCAA tournament against No. 4 seed Texas A&M, Gayle led Michigan in a comeback win with a season-high 26 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting. The Wolverines rallied from down ten points in the second half, and Gayle scored 12 straight points for Michigan as they captured their first lead of the half. He would go on to score 21 of his 26 points in the half, leading the Wolverines to the Sweet Sixteen.
Gayle returned for his senior season with the 2025âÂÂ26 Wolverines, helping lead Michigan to one of its best seasons in program history. In the 2026 NCAA tournament, he earned the moniker 'March Roddy', based on his performance the year before, and his efforts leading Michigan to the Final Four while being named to the Midwest All-Region team. In the first four games, Gayle averaged 10.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game off the bench. He shot 15-of-23 from the field (65.2%) and 7-of-12 on three-point attempts (58.3%).
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2022âÂÂ23 | style="text-align:left;"| Ohio State | 35 || 11 || 16.3 || .440 || .429 || .810 || 1.6 || 0.9 || 0.6 || 0.4 || 4.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2023âÂÂ24 | style="text-align:left;"| Ohio State | 36 || 35 || 30.9 || .449 || .284 || .832 || 4.6 || 3.1 || 0.8 || 0.2 || 13.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2024âÂÂ25 | style="text-align:left;"| Michigan | 36 || 25 || 26.3 || .431 || .232 || .792 || 3.4 || 2.2 || 0.8 || 0.2 || 9.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2025âÂÂ26 | style="text-align:left;"| Michigan | 37 || 1 || 20.7 || .473 || .317 || .756 || 3.3 || 1.3 || 0.8 || 0.5 || 7.4 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 144 || 72 || 23.6 || .448 || .301 || .801 || 3.3 || 1.9 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 8.9