What Kobe Rodgers Brings to Louisville

Here's what the transfer from Charleston brings to the table for the Cardinals.

Mar 21, 2024; Spokane, WA, USA; Charleston Cougars guard Kobe Rodgers (11) / James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While the Louisville men's basketball program is actively searching for some front court players, head coach Pat Kelsey landed another player that he is familiar with for his first year at the helm.

Kobe Rodgers, who spent this past season at Charleston with Kelsey, announced Thursday that he is following his head coach to his new stop. He's the ninth transfer commitment for Kelsey, the third to follow him from the Cougars, and the second that will redshirt the upcoming 2024-25 season.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound point guard was Charleston's go-to backcourt bench option this past season, but also saw a handful of starts as well. Playing 31 games with 18 starts, he averaged 9.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and and a team-best 1.2 steals per game. He also shot an even 50.0 percent from the field, and was 45.0 percent on three-point attempts.

Rodgers was named to the All-CAA Tournament Team after averaging 10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in three games, helping Charleston win the CAA Championship. He also had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists against Alabama before having to be helped off the court with 4:07 left.

The Cincinnati, Ohio native spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career in the Division II ranks with Nova Southeastern, helping the Sharks win the D2 title in 2023 as a sophomore. That season, he averaged 13.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.4 steals across 30 games.

But beyond his stat lines, what else does Rodgers bring to the table for the Cardinals?

While players like Terrence Edwards Jr., Aboubacar Traore and James Scott headline Louisville's current crop of transfers in terms of pure athleticism, Rodgers' overall athletic ability is very underrated. He is point guard, but he's a lot more of an effective scorer than you would think, and more so a combo guard vs. a true point guard.

Whether in true 1-on-1 matchups, off a screen or on dribble handoffs, Rodgers is solid on the drive thanks to his shiftiness and ability to absorb contact. He also finishes well at the rim with a good double move. He isn't afraid to attack the paint no matter how crowded it is, as evidenced by the fact that he converted on 58 percent of his attempts at the rim.

Additionally, he's another player that has a tendency to play a little bigger than you would expect, mainly because of the hustle he operates with. Despite being 6-foot-3, he was Charleston's third-best rebounder. Because of this, another way that Rodgers is an effective scorer is on put backs. He does a good job of boxing out, and has great timing on missed shots to snag the offensive rebound and subsequent shot.

Because of his hustle and overall play style, Rodgers does a good job and both getting to and scoring at the free throw line. He sports a free throw rate of 41.8 percent, and connected on 79.3 percent of his attempts at the charity stripe.

Even when not directly at the rim, Rodgers has can score in a variety of ways. He can move his pivot foot quickly to get an open look off a post move within 10-15 feet of the rim, and has a good midrange jumper that he mainly utilizes coming off of a screen.

A very underutilized aspect of Rodgers' game is three-point shooting ability. He was technically Charleston's leader in three-point shooting percentage last season, but only took 40 attempts from long range. It's a small sample size, but Rodgers is a fantastic catch-and-shoot perimeter shooter, as he shot an insane 69 percent on overall catch-and-shoot jumpers.

One weakness with Rodgers' game as a scorer is that, despite being good on the drive, he isn't that effective at shooting off of the dribble. In fact, he shot just 33 percent on such shot attempts, partially due to the fact that he can be a little *too* fearless to attack a crowded painted area.

Of course, being a point guard, Rodgers is also a good passer when not scoring. He's very good at finding the open man when a double team starts to collapse on him, especially to big men sitting on or cutting to the block. However, he does have a bit of a turnover tendency, averaging 1.5 per game with a turnover rate of 18.2 percent. While he can facilitate the offense in spurts, he's likely not going to be asked to have a large role doing so.

Over on defense, Rodgers is undoubtedly a great asset to have. He is someone that applies a lot of pressure on the ball handler, but he also does a great job at getting into passing lanes on cross-court passes and turning that into points on the other end. As you can imagine, Rodgers does very well in transition as the primary ball handler after a steal, though is a tad streaky in 2-on-1 fast break situations.

Something else to note with Rodgers is that, while is stat line might not jump off the page to some, he only averaged 21.7 minutes per game. In fact, his per 40 stat line has him at 17.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Put it all together, and Rodgers brings a very good mix of offense and defense to the table. According to Bart Torvik, he was one of just 11 players in D1 last season with an offensive rating of 116.0 or more, a D-PORPAGATU (BT's alternate defensive efficiency metric) of 2.2 or more, and a steal percentage of 3.3 or more. Of those 11 players, he had the lowest minutes percentage (48.1 percent), and only one had a better three-point shooting percentage: Reed Sheppard.

Overall, this a good pickup for Louisville. While Rodgers isn't perfect, and the Cardinals do have a fair amount of guard/wing depth right now and are in need of front court pieces, they need role players and future contributors as well. For the time being, he should serve as a culture pickup for Kelsey while he rehabs his injury.

(Photo of Kobe Rodgers: James Snook - USA TODAY Sports)

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