How Kohl Rosario earned Bill Self’s admiration — and lofty KU player comparisons
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Freshman Kohl Rosario shoots before and after many home games.
- Coach Bill Self praises work ethic while noting Rosario needs balance.
- Rosario hit a career-high three 3s vs Davidson and showed scoring spurts.
It’s two hours before a Kansas men’s basketball home game, 30 minutes before fans are allowed entry through the Allen Fieldhouse doors.
The lower level of KU’s tradition-rich building is basically empty except for early arriving radio and TV crews setting up their electronics on the east side of James Naismith Court, ushers prepping with supervisors in the southeast corner bleachers as well as one KU player, one assistant coach and one manager participating in a shooting drill at the south goal.
The player is freshman shooting guard Kohl Rosario, who before KU’s six nonconference home games could be seen launching dozens of 3s on his own — 30 to 45 minutes ahead of official team warmup drills — in hopes of carryover success into games.
The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Miami native during his first collegiate nonconference campaign also has been known to stick around and shoot after games either in the fieldhouse, the team’s practice gym adjacent to the fieldhouse or the court in McCarthy Hall, the players’ dorm.
“No, no, not everybody works like Kohl,” KU coach Bill Self said after the Jayhawks’ 90-61 home victory over Davidson on Monday night, a game in which Rosario hit three 3s in seven tries and scored 13 points off the bench in 19 minutes.
“Kohl is in the gym too much. He needs to go be a kid. He is in the gym all the time, to the point where it’s probably too much. But that’s what he loves to do, and you can’t keep him out of here,” Self added. “But he works hard. He’s got the best attitude as everybody can see, tries so hard and he hasn’t had many things go right for him first semester.”
Rosario entered Monday’s final nonconference game 10-of-40 from beyond the arc for 25%.
“He’s a good player. It was good to see that ball go down a few times tonight,” Self added.
Rosario, who hit 5 of 10 shots overall versus Davidson, has averaged 5.5 points a game on 43.5% shooting. He’s now made 13 of 47 3s for 27.7%.
Rosario entered KU’s final nonconference game having made 3 of his last 21 3s over eight games.
He missed his first 3-point try versus Davidson 7 1/2 minutes into the game, scoring just two points in the first half via a crowd-pleasing slam dunk off an alley-oop pass from Melvin Council Jr.
He had a busy second half, scoring 11 points off 4-of-8 shooting (3-of-6 from 3). He converted his second attempt from beyond the arc with 14:37 to play. Just 25 seconds later, he pulled up on the fast break and drained a 3. He quickly put up two more 3s, missing with 13:07 and 12:30 to play.
Rosario flushed an alley-oop off a pass from Jamari McDowell at 6:48, then hit a 3 at 5:51, missed an inside shot at 5:19 and missed a 3 at 3:16.
“Kohl saw the ball going in the basket. He was kind of feeling himself there for a second,” Self said with a smile. “That (3 on the run) was a good shot in transition because it went in. That was fine. He was actually open when he shot it.
“There were a couple that he really maybe wasn’t wide open, but you don’t have to tell him twice to shoot it, so that’s a positive. And then he made it. He had a couple of nice dunks and nice finishes.”
Rosario’s three 3s set a career high. He made two against both Princeton and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He’s scored in double figures in two games, finishing with 16 points against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“I mean it felt good to see a couple go in. Every time I shoot I feel like it’s going in,” Rosario said in the interview room after the game, KU’s 10th victory in 13 tries. “It actually happened this time, so I’m very grateful for that.
“It’s good momentum for me,” Rosario added, “but I think it’s better for the team, too. Obviously, like Jamari (McDowell, 10 points, four assists to one turnover) said, our second season (Big 12 play) is what’s most important, and then going to our third season as well. So I think it’s good momentum. We can all actually enjoy Christmas right now, since we all played well and came out with the win. So we’re excited to come back (to campus Saturday after five-day break) too.”
The Jayhawks’ fast break clicked Monday. Kansas finished with a season-high 27 assists, most since KU totaled 30 against UCF on Jan. 5, 2025, in Florida. It was KU’s most assists in the fieldhouse since the team dished 34 against North Carolina Central on Nov. 6, 2023. Council had a season-high nine assists against one turnover. Flory Bidunga, who had 18 points, flushed three dunks off lobs.
“I think that’s what we’re doing,” Rosario said of trying to run as much as possible. “Obviously, Melvin is a really fast player. I think we find people to keep up with him and go with his pace of play. He’s really good. But I think we’ve been doing a good job of that, especially in this game.”
He noted that KU’s 13 steals led to some fast-break points.
“Our identity today was really in the defense, and that led to offense as well,” Rosario said.
KU forced 16 turnovers. Previous high in a game this season was 13 turnovers forced vs. UConn and Princeton.
“The ball kind of stuck a little bit the second half, but the guys are getting better all the time,” Self said. “We’re still incomplete (with Darryn Peterson having played in just four of 13 games) but I do think that if we can keep the ball moving like that and just get a little bit better defensively and rebound the ball, then this team could be pretty fun to watch the next couple of months.”
KU obviously would welcome three or more 3s a game from Rosario, who signed with KU with a reputation as an accurate long-distance shooter out of the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta.
“Kohl is a C.B. (Christian Braun) that shoots it better, but he’s not as big and not as powerful yet,” Self said in an interview earlier this season. “Kohl is an athlete. I mean he’s a real athlete. He tries really hard. He’s active. He’ll steal you possessions. And he’s a really good shooter.
“When I think of great shooters, I think of Svi (Mykhailiuk). I think of Conner Frankamp. I think of guys that we’ve had here … a Brannen Greene. Those are probably as good of shooters as we’ve had since I’ve been here. I don’t even think of Devonte’ (Graham). I don’t think of Frank (Mason). Those are guys that that came in as pretty good shooters and left out of here real good shooters. Those other guys were pure.
“Is he there yet? Probably not, but he’s in that next camp of being a guy that can line it up. And you know, you think he can make two out of five if guarded and three out of five if he’s not. So that’s what I see.”
Rosario, who was ranked No. 27 in the recruiting Class of 2026 by Rivals (prior to reclassifying to 2025), said he’s trying to be a complete player his first year in college.
“Everything I do, when it comes with ball handling, with shooting, I’m just trying to be the best version of myself that I could be every single day,” Rosario said. “It comes with working hard.”
The son of Karel Rosario, who played at Florida International from 1998 to 2001 and 11 years professionally in Europe, and Kristi, who played volleyball in college, has proven to be a hard worker, evidenced by Self’s statement that he “needs to go be a kid.”
Rosario, who is willing to put in as many hours as it takes to be a successful college player, has heard that message loud and clear.
“That’s what they told me, that I needed to do something other than basketball,” he said with a smile.
