Rod Dean

Dean played his freshman season (1968–69) at Ohio State University.^[1][9][10] Dean then transferred to Waterloo Lutheran University (renamed Wilfrid Laurier University in 1973) in the CIAU for the 1970–1971 season.^[11]

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).^{[12][13][14][15]} Dean was the first athlete in CIAU basketball history to be a four-time All-Canadian.^[1][5][16] Since Dean, only 13 other athletes have accomplished this feat.^[5][16] This is more selective than being named CIAU basketball player of the year, of which there have been 41 unique recipients.^[17][18][19]

In the 1970–71 season, Dean led Waterloo Lutheran to a fifth overall finish in the CIAU tournament.^[20][21][22] This season, he was named as a CIAU tournament all-star.^[23][24][25]

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.^[23][26][27] Dean was a four-time First-team All-Conference selection (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974).^{[11][26][28][29]} In the 1972–73 season, Dean was second overall in the OUA in scoring.^[1]

Dean also received recognition at the WLU team level. He was named team MVP twice (1973, 1974) and was named rookie of the year his first season with the team (1971).^[1][27]

Dean set many school records. He graduated with the most career regular season points in WLU history and currently ranks 8th overall, despite having played many fewer career games other WLU historic players.^[30] In the 1972–73 season, he set the WLU record for highest regular season points per game (22.7).^[31] Dean also ranks ninth overall in WLU career playoff points.^[32]

Dean was inducted into WLU's athletic hall of fame in 1986 as part of its first inductee class.^[33] Dean was inducted into the Wyandot Sports Hall of Fame (2023), which recognizes athletic achievements in Wyandot County, Ohio.^[1][34][35] 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.^[2][3]