Kobe Knox beyond the film: The stats behind South Carolina's transfer guard

South Carolina transfer commit Kobe Knox, a Tampa native, spent the first season of his career at Grand Canyon. After one year in Phoenix, he returned home for two seasons with South Florida. Now, for his senior year, he’s in Columbia playing for Lamont Paris. What does he bring to the court? His stats show how he might be utilized for the Gamecocks.

Knox came off the bench in his first 18 games with Grand Canyon. In that span, he averaged 4.7 points in 12.2 minutes per game, with the ‘Lopes compiling a 12-6 record. But beginning with a conference road game against Abilene Christian, Knox started the rest of the season. From games 19-34 in his freshman year, Knox saw his opportunities increase to 19.6 MPG. His efficiencies improved as well, from a 35.0 3PT% to a 43.9% mark from deep as a starter. Knox’s assists per game went from 0.7 to 1.8, and improved from 0.3 blocks to 1.1 blocks per game.

His best game offensively was 21 points against Sam Houston State in the WAC Tournament. Knox used the buzz generated from his late-season performances to transfer back to South Florida. In his first season with the Bulls, Knox saw more opportunity, starting every game and averaging 26.2 MPG. However, his efficiency did see dips.

After posting a 41.0 3PT% with Grand Canyon, Knox’s mark fell to 31.7% from deep as a sophomore. His free-throw percentage, 65.1% with Grand Canyon, dropped to 57.1% in his first year with South Florida. His defensive stats, which were above-average on a per-40-minute rate, fell as well. Knox’s blocks/40 minutes dropped from 1.8 to 1.0 in his first year in Tampa. His 1.3 steals/40 minutes dropped to 0.8.

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One category that was much improved, however, was Knox’s overall basketball discipline. After posting a 15.7% turnover rate in Phoenix, he cut that down to 9.2% as a sophomore. That was good enough for 8th in the AAC that year. His fouls/40 minutes dropped from 4.4 to 2.8. After compiling five games of four-plus fouls as a freshman, Knox only had three such games as a sophomore, despite the larger role. He didn’t foul out once.

Despite the drops in offensive efficiency, Knox did put together games of high output, and his potential shone through. After putting up four games of 10-plus points against D-I competition as a freshman, Knox had 12 such games as a sophomore while playing against tougher competition. Against UTSA in a January conference matchup, Knox put up 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks. That was without recording a single turnover or foul.

Knox was able to secure a starting role for South Florida despite being on a very good team. The 2023-24 South Florida Bulls were the AAC regular season champions with a 25-8 overall record and a 16-2 conference record. Though they didn’t receive a bid to the NCAA tournament, South Florida did make the NIT for the first time since 2010. They lost to VCU in the second round.

Tragically, head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim passed away before Knox’s second season in Tampa due to complications from a medical procedure. Following the loss of their leader, the Bulls were coached by interim head coach Ben Fletcher. Knox did improve in his second season, both offensively and defensively.

Part of Knox’s improvements came from a change in role and strategy on offense. As a sophomore, Knox averaged 4.3 3PA/game and 2.9 2PA/game. That equates to a .597 3PAr, which measures which percentage of a player’s shot attempts that are from beyond the arc. However, as a junior, Knox took more and more of his shots from inside the arc. It was a gradual change. Knox played 30 games last season, and took an average of 4.6 threes per game and 3.6 twos per game in the first 15 contests. He averaged 11.2 PPG on a 60.2 eFG%.

Over the next half of the season, Knox shot 3.5 threes per game and 5.5 shots inside the arc per game. His eFG% fell, however, to 48.5%, and he averaged 10.4 PPG. Part of the drop had to do with an increased level of competition from out-of-conference games to AAC opponents. Defensively, in that span, he did improve. He averaged 1.3 SPG and 0.6 BPG in the past 15 games of the 2024-25 season as opposed to averages of 0.9 SPG and 0.2 BPG in the first 15.

Overall, Knox did improve across the board as a junior compared to his first season with South Florida. His overall FG% went up from 41.2% to 46.3%. After a disappointing mark in 2023-24, Knox’s 3PT% improved to 33.1% as a junior. His 2PT% of 58.1% was 8th in the AAC amongst qualifying players. His offensive rating was also 8th in the AAC, ahead of players such as PJ Haggerty and Christian Coleman.

Knox’s turnover rate dropped again as a junior to 6.9%. That rate was the lowest for the Bulls last season. To put that in perspective, of the 11 players on South Carolina with at least 200 minutes played, only one (Arden Conyers) had a lower turnover percentage. The Gamecocks’ turnover per game rate finished at 12.4, while Knox recorded only 1.0 turnover per game. Knox’s ball-handling ability should help South Carolina on the court next season.

Knox’s free-throw percentage rose to a career-high mark of 76.7% last season. While those types of jumps don’t always end up corresponding with better perimeter shooting, the major improvement from the stripe certainly is a good indication of Knox possibly returning to his freshman-level shooting splits with Grand Canyon.

Knox had a stretch of eight games in the middle of last season where he came off the bench. In what could be seen as a surprise, his efficiencies skyrocketed. In those eight games, he shot 56.7% from deep and 78.3% on twos, much higher than his total season rates. He averaged 11.9 PPG and the Bulls went 5-3 in that span. In 189 minutes throughout eight games, Knox committed just two turnovers. (They were both in a loss to UAB.)

Some players simply play better when they come off the bench, and Knox very well might be one of those players. That bodes well for South Carolina, as Knox will most likely be in a key bench role given the return of Meechie Johnson.

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