Tipsheet: Blue collar players can get lost in college basketball's roster shuffle

In the good old days of college basketball, Ty Rodgers would have played four years at Illinois and been remembered as an outstanding program player.

Rodgers provided roster glue as the Fighting Illini went 29-9 and reached the Elite Eight. He defended, rebounded and helped distribute the ball for a talented squad the developed excellent chemistry.

He did much of the team's dirty work while averaging 6.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Illinois coach Brad Underwood has always loved blue collar players like Rodgers.

"I always say this about Ty when I'm asked about him, 'He's a winner.' You don't have to look at the box score. All you have to do is look at the wins and the losses," Underwood said. "Whether it was his AAU team, whether it was his high school teams or what he's done here for two years, he just wins."

But Rodgers has never been a great shooter, so he got pushed aside this season when Underwood brought in a new wave of accomplished transfers and elite freshman recruits. This sort of thing happens across the sport as coaches use the transfer portal and NIL dollars to load up on talent.

After Rodgers losing his spot in the playing rotation, he elected to take a redshirt year this season to work on his game and mull his options.

Writing for 247 Sports, Isaac Trotter assessed the Rodgers scenario:

Rodgers started all 38 games last year for an Illini club that reached the Elite Eight. He was one of the lone returners for this new-look club, but his role was cloudy after the addition of five-star freshman Will Riley and Louisville transfer wing Tre White. Rodgers will not play for Illinois this season after representing the team at Big Ten Media Days.

The fallout is obvious. Illinois will lose Rodgers' rim pressure, rebounding and defense, but this is a big bet on offense. White was ahead of Rodgers in the pecking order because he does a lot of the same things well but he's a more-advanced shooter, and then Riley went out and went off for a 31-point evisceration of Eastern Illinois with a display of shot-making that's hard to keep stapled on the bench. Rodgers' decision solidifies that Illinois' nine-man rotation will feature eight newcomers. It's a very real possibility that Rodgers has played his last game in an Illinois uniform.

Like so many other players, he might decide to move on.

"Yeah. It's the world we're in," Underwood said. "I think he's an Illini. I think he's our guy. We love Ty to death, but our world doesn't have any guarantees now. We'll do everything we can do within our power to help him be as successful as he can be. There's no rhyme or reason to anything. We sure hope he's an Illini."

Here is what folks have been writing about college basketball:

Jeff Eisenberg, Yahoo! Sports: "For a conference hailed as one of college basketball's best entering the season, the SEC had a rough opening night. Four of the league's teams suffered losses, each one against unranked opponents. It was bad enough when South Carolina suffered a stunning home loss to North Florida and Missouri blew a 10-point halftime lead against Memphis. Then Texas A&M went cold late at UCF and Texas squandered a record-setting 29-point performance from freshman Tre Johnson in a loss to Ohio State. Making matters worse for the SEC, college basketball's other four power conferences largely avoided disaster. Teams from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten and Big 12 went a combined 48-1 on Monday, the lone loss Baylor's no-show against Gonzaga."

Mike Lopresti, NCAA.com : "Some things looked familiar enough on opening day. No. 1 Kansas still knows how to get the Lawrence fans in the mood, winning its 52nd home opener in a row going back to 1973, cruising over Howard by 30. No. 2 Alabama can still score, shooting 63 percent to bury UNC Asheville by 56, with seven players in double figures. No. 4 Houston can still defend, suffocating Jackson State 97-40, with a 35-4 gap in points off turnovers. No. 9 North Carolina still knows how to say hello to a season, holding back Elon 90-76 to go 103-12 all-time in openers, even if the Tar Heels needed a 21-5 rush in the last 6 1⁄2 minutes to do it. They committed only six turnovers, their fewest in a first game since the stat became official in the 1970s. No. 12 Tennessee still owns the Big South. The 80-64 win over Gardner-Webb puts the Volunteers at 29-0 against the league."

Jeff Borzello, ESPN.com : "Kansas' win over Howard was noteworthy for a couple of rotation observations. Bill Self consistently spoke about South Dakota State transfer Zeke Mayo as the team's most consistent player in the offseason, while Wisconsin transfer AJ Storr was one of the top five players in the portal this past spring. Neither started on Monday; Northern Illinois transfer David Coit, an under-the-radar pickup, did. Mayo eventually came off the bench to score 19 points and bury five 3-pointers. Self could tweak his lineup moving forward, but it was an interesting start nonetheless."

Isaac Trotter, 247 Sports: "Kentucky did what Kentucky is about to do all year long: score. The transition spacing was impeccable and the ball and body movement was so noticeable. Kentucky tallied 30 assists on 41 made buckets. Otega Oweh looked supercharged surrounded by this much shooting. The 6-foot-4 guard (who looks like a linebacker) went off for 21 points. Koby Brea chipped in a casual 18 points on just eight shots. He shot 50% from 3-point range last season and Brea is off to a 4-for-4 start. That'll play."

David Cobb, CBSSports.com : "Duke phenom Cooper Flagg made his long-awaited collegiate debut Monday night as the No. 7 Blue Devils outlasted Maine 96-62 to open the 2024-25 season. Flagg finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes before checking out with 3:28 remaining while battling cramps. The Maine native didn't get his first basket from the floor until 6:25 remained in the first half. But his command for the game was on display early as Flagg assisted on two of Duke's first three buckets. With fellow freshman Kon Knueppel on fire with 13 points in the first seven minutes, Flagg took on a complimentary role for much of the first half. But Flagg's ability to impact the game without the ball in his hands is part of the allure that makes him the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The 17-year old is regarded as a multi-faceted offensive hub and versatile defender because of his combination of size and athleticism at 6-9 and 205 pounds. Meeting the hype and expectations will be a tall task for a young player. But Flagg is believed to be the rare talent capable of meeting the overused 'generational' label."

Myron Medcalf, ESPN.com : "Gonzaga deserved more Final Four buzz entering the season. And Mark Few seems to have one of his deepest, most balanced teams in years. Ending the 2024-25 campaign as one of the most offensively efficient teams in America wouldn't be surprising. The Bulldogs have finished top-five in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom in six consecutive seasons. But Monday's numbers - 144 points on 100 possessions, with seven players scoring at least nine points - are ridiculous. The depth also feels different, given Few typically runs his team through one or two players. Arkansas transfer Khalif Battle strengthened a backcourt that fed off the paint production of Graham Ike and Braden Huff. Some of Monday night's win could have been about an opponent that's really not equipped to deal with this level of balance and experience. But the Bulldogs won by 38 points - the largest win by a team over a top-10 opponent in a season opener ever - and held a squad with NBA talent to 90 points per 100 possessions (compare this with the NBA's top defensive team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, which is currently holding opponents to 93.8 points per 100 possessions). If this Gonzaga team is also a top-10 defensive squad, it once again has a shot to win it all."

CJ Moore, The Athletic: "The Big East got only three teams into the NCAA Tournament last season, and it wasn't a strong opening night for the prospects of improving on that number. All eight conference members in action won, but Seton Hall, Butler, Providence, Villanova and DePaul all trailed mid- or low-major opponents in the second half. DePaul needed overtime to beat Southern Indiana; Seton Hall won by four over Saint Peter's; Providence just squeaked by Central Connecticut 59-55. Marquette did take care of business, following a trend of teams with roster continuity looking sharper on opening day. The Golden Eagles rolled over Stony Brook 102-62, and Kam Jones had one of the most impressive performances of the day, finishing with 32 points on 14-of-16 shooting. Jones put up big numbers last year when Tyler Kolek was out, and he could be in for an All-America season with Kolek now on the New York Knicks."

"It's hard to coach effort. I'm not a big fan of coaching effort. Everyone knows everything. I played in the Stone Ages, so there wasn't a lot of access to information, so you just naturally respected everybody. Had a healthy respect for anybody you played. You always felt like you were better than them, but you didn't know. There were no highlights of them. You couldn't go on YouTube and see any of those guys play. You just respect them and you played. Today, guys know who is who. They know that they got a guy who transferred from NAIA. So, you think any of those guys think they're a worse player than that guy?"

South Carolina coach Lamont Paris, after his team suffered an upset loss to North Florida.

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