Louisville's Aly Khalifa, Kobe Rodgers Ready to Contribute Following Redshirt Seasons

Heading into the upcoming 2024-25 season, the Louisville men's basketball program is teeming with players who are coming off of productive 2024-25 seasons at the college level.

J'Vonne Hadley was UofL's top rebounder and a double-digit scorer. Kasean Pryor, at least before his early season injury, excelled at scoring and rebounding as well. On top of that, Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely and Adrian Wooley were all top-25 transfers in the portal. Not to mention the potential with newcomers Mikel Brown Jr. and Sananda Fru.

But two of Louisville's returners, Aly Khalifa and Kobe Rodgers, have yet to play a single minute for the Cardinals.

Both players had to sit on the sideline during the 2024-25 season due to significant knee injuries. Khalifa redshirted to rehab a nagging knee injury from his time at BYU that required surgery, while Rodgers also redshirted after tearing his ACL.

During year one of the Pat Kelsey era, the two leaned on each other during their respective rehab processes. Now, they are both ready to ball out for their final seasons in college, and show fans what they can do.

"We had two pretty bad knee injuries," Rodgers said. "While you're being out, while you're sitting out, it's not fun. But you know that at the end of the journey, it's going to be well worth it. I feel better than I ever have, and I know he's feeling better than he has ever have. Now we're just excited to get on the floor and show what we can do."

For Khalifa, it has been an eventful past year. For starters, during his rehab process, he completely transformed his overall physique, losing nearly 50 pounds and is now in the best physical condition of his life.

Even before this, Khalifa was one of the top playmaking big men in the nation. In 29 games and 26 starts with BYU last season, he averaged 4.0 assists to just 1.1 turnovers per game, with his 3.59 assist-to-turnover ratio ranking seventh in D1. He also put up 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and shot 38.6 percent from the field plus 31.5 percent on threes.

Now, he's ready to find out how much better he can be following his transformative rehab.

"I feel like, defensively, I'm able to jump ball screens or drop ball screens, and hedge dudes down low and try and block them out and be stronger," Khalifa. "I feel like this is the biggest thing I'm excited for, it's what I've been working on this whole time. I also feel like I can shoot it a lot better too since the last time I played two years ago."

Then of course, there was the issue of his eligibility. Back in April, Khalifa learned that his waiver to extend his eligibility clock and play for the upcoming 2025-26 season was denied. Having played three on-court seasons in five years, Khalifa's waiver sought to extend his eligibility clock to six years.

Fortunately, he filed an appeal, which was approved late last month.

"It was very stressful. ... But I was very confident that I would be eligible with the right supporting staff," he said. "We have our compliance team, Josh Heird, our lawyers and everything. My teammates as well, my brothers, they supported me throughout the whole process, and the community of Louisville. That was big."

As for Rodgers, he tore his ACL against Alabama in the first game of the 2024 NCAA Tournament while with Kelsey at Charleston. While fans are rightfully excited by Mikel Brown Jr.'s potential as the lead guard, Rodgers has a lot of potential as well.

During that 2023-24 season, Rodgers 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 18-of-40 (45.0 percent) on three-point attempts.

Rodgers has been on the roster for a Pat Kelsey-led team for three seasons now. As we approach the 2025-26 season, the UofL head coach says that the guard is looking the best he ever has.

"He's quicker, stronger, more athletic than he's ever been," Kelsey said of Rodgers. "Kobe is represents everything we want our program to be about. If the ball is bouncing, you open the door in the Kueber Center, Kobe Rodgers is in there. We got a program full of guys like that. That's being 'hoop dudes.' It's what we celebrate all the time. He's playing as well as he ever has in his career, he's a phenomenal leader. We're relying on Kobe big time this year to be really, really good for us."