Wesley Dean/St. Thomas Athletics
St. Thomas Guard Andrew Rohde Transfers to Virginia Basketball
Less than a week after making their first splash in the transfer portal with the addition of Merrimack transfer Jordan Minor, Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers have reeled in their second transfer commitment. Andrew Rohde, a 6'6" freshman guard from St. Thomas in Minnesota, announced his commitment to Virginia on Tuesday afternoon.
Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rohde flew under the radar during his high school recruiting process and ultimately landed at St. Thomas, where he turned out to be a star. Rohde started all 31 games as a true freshman and averaged 17.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. He was named the Summit League Freshman of the Year and was selected to the All-Summit League First Team. Rohde had some impressive performances in games against top-tier competition last season, scoring 15 points in a game at Creighton, 16 points at Utah, 10 points at Kansas State, and 23 points in the last game of the season against Oral Roberts, an NCAA Tournament team, in the Summit League Tournament.
At 6'6", 185 pounds, Rohde provides great size at the guard position. He has the ball-handling and passing skills to be a traditional point guard, but can guard up to three positions on the defensive end. Although he shot just 32.0% from beyond the arc as a freshman, that was on a high volume of attempts and many of those shots were off the dribble or from well beyond the arc. Rohde's volume of attempts, and especially attempts off the dribble, will decrease at Virginia, which will likely lead to an increase in shooting percentage as he gets less, but higher-quality looks from three-point range.
Most importantly, Rohde brings a scoring punch that the Cavaliers need desperately. Rohde ended the season with five-straight games of 20 or more points, including eight out of the last ten games with 20+, and 16-consecutive games in double figures to end the year. With UVA potentially losing its five leading scorers from last season, Rohde's scoring production alone makes this commitment a big one for the Hoos.
Additionally, Rohde comes to Virginia with three years of eligibility remaining. That's three years of development under Tony Bennett and his staff and crucially, Mike Curtis and UVA's strength and conditioning program, which could do wonders for Rohde with his already solid 6'6" frame.
With the commitments of Andrew Rohde and Jordan Minor, Virginia has officially filled nine scholarship spots for the 2023-2024 season (ten, if Reece Beekman returns). UVA will likely look for at least one more addition from the transfer portal, but the Cavaliers are also looking to the high school recruiting trail, with 2023 four-star shooting guard Blue Cain visiting UVA over this past weekend and 2024 (but potentially reclassifying to 2023) five-star forward Jarin Stevenson visiting the weekend before that. Read more on their recruitments here: Virginia Looking to Craft a Potential Dream Scenario for Its 2023 Recruiting Class
Keep track of all of Virginia's movement in the transfer portal here: Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal Updates
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