Kobe Knox will return to Tampa to play at South Florida
South Florida added a transfer from the WAC today when Grand Canyon redshirt freshman guard Kobe Knox committed to the Bulls. Knox was a standout high school player at nearby Tampa Catholic before taking a prep year at Don Bosco (IN) Prep, so the move allows him to play close to his family.
Although he hasn’t known USF head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim long, the two have quickly built a bond over something they have in common.
“Our relationship has definitely grown a lot while he’s been recruiting me and just having those genuine conversations,” Knox said of Abdur-Rahim. “I have three years of eligibility left. So, he was telling me that I can come in and impact and change USF basketball along with the other guys that he has on the roster right now. That will be big and especially for someone like me who's from Tampa. So, it'll be good to come back home.
“He was also telling me he really relates to me in terms of just, you know, being that middle brother. His older brother, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, is a well accomplished NBA player, and he kind of relates to me and my older brother, Kevin, you know, in the NBA and stuff like that. So he kind of knows the chip on the shoulder that we both carry.”
Knox chose USF over North Texas and returning to GCU. He was also hearing from Texas A&M and West Virginia but didn't visit either of those schools.
The 6-foot-5 Knox started the last half of the season and was key in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament with his defense and perimeter shooting. GCU was 24-12 overall and lost to Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Knox arrived in Tampa late Sunday night but he and his mother had a full day with the entire USF staff on Monday.
“For lunch we went to Harpoon Harry’s Crab House, a spot right next to the Marriott Hotel,” Knox said. It was literally walking distance from the hotel. In fact, we walked right to it. It was good. We had dinner at Jackson’s Bistro.”
Knox also received a tour of the basketball facilities and saw some of the campus on Monday. Tuesday Knox had breakfast with the coaching staff then toured the apartment building where the players live, had a light shoot around with the staff and met Vice President of Athletics, Michael Kelly.
Kevin Knox I, Kobe’s father, joined the visit Tuesday and was impressed with the chance to meet Kelly.
“I’ve been on a lot of visits but none of them included meeting the Athletic Director,” Kevin Knox said.
USF was the final visit for Knox. He visited North Texas two weeks ago and had a last meeting with Grand Canyon before he came to USF. Most transfer portal recruitments move fairly quickly and that is the case with Knox who entered decision making mode after his USF visit ended.
Knox becomes the fifth transfer portal get for Bulls head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. He joins Jose Placer of North Florida, Brandon Stroud, Chris Youngblood and Kasen Jennings of Kennesaw State as players who have exited the NCAA transfer portal and committed to USF.
RUSS’ REACTION
This is another very good pick up for USF. Knox has very good size and length and, at 6-foot-5, 195-pounds, he can defend all three perimeter positions. Knox made 46.7 percent of his shots in ball screen action, something his father, Kevin, told us that head coach Abdur-Rahim really likes about Kobe’s game and believes he will be a great fit in his offense. Thanks to a post grad year and a redshirt season, Knox is an older guy with three seasons of eligibility. He is the first portal pickup for Abdur-Rahim with more than two seasons of eligibility and the fourth player with NCAA tournament game experience to join the roster.
