Kansas basketball’s Kohl Rosario sees 3s fall at just the right time

LAWRENCE — Kohl Rosario showed promise as a 3-point shooting threat through the early days of his freshman season with Kansas basketball.

Rosario, a guard who arrived from Overtime Elite, hit multiple 3s in three of his first four games with the Jayhawks. Through those four initial contests, he was shooting 7-for-19 (36.8%) from behind the arc. KU’s offense will work best when there’s adequate spacing, and the former 247Sports Composite four-star prospect looked capable of providing that as he began his first college campaign in the starting lineup.

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But Rosario soon fell into a slump. Over the next eight games, he shot 3-for-21 (14.3%) from behind the arc as his playing time became less consistent, and he eventually dropped out of the starting lineup. While his effort level remained consistent in other aspects of his game, his production as a long-range shooter dissipated. And that made his effort in Kansas’ 90-61 win Monday at home against Davidson, when he shot 3-for-7 from behind the arc, all the more a welcome sight for the Jayhawks.

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“I mean, it felt good to see a couple go in,” Rosario said. “Every time I shoot, it feels like it’s going in. So, it actually happened this time. So, I’m very grateful for that.”

KU coach Bill Self, on Rosario’s work ethic, later added: “Not everybody works like Kohl. Kohl’s in the gym too much. He needs to go be a kid. He just works — he just 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. But he works hard, and 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. So, it was good to — he’s a good player, and it was good to see that ball go down a few times tonight.”

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Six Kansas players reached double figures in scoring against Davidson, including all five starters, and Rosario was the sixth. Overall, he finished with 13 points, which is the most he’s scored since he dropped a career-high 16 in a mid-November win at home against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The trio of 3s he hit against Davidson, though, does mark a new career-high.

Self has been looking for more from his bench ahead of the start of Big 12 Conference play in early January, and Rosario’s performance gives some confidence that the bench can be relied upon a bit more. Senior guard Jayden Dawson also stood out to Self with his play against Davidson. Having more backcourt production also becomes more critical, given that freshman guard Darryn Peterson’s regular availability remains uncertain.

Time will tell how much of an acclimation process there’ll be for Rosario during the Big 12 slate, but from a Jayhawks’ perspective, what he did against Davidson came at just the right time. It’ll be the last performance on his mind, with a lengthy break ahead in between that game and the league opener against UCF on Jan. 3 on the road. Regardless, whether it’s right away or as the next month unfolds, KU will need his ability as a 3-point threat to complement the other aspects of his game on the court that aid the team.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball’s Kohl Rosario sees 3s fall at just the right time