Liberty senior forwards Kyle Rode and Shiloh Robinson are staying onboard at Liberty. The two veterans announced Saturday that they will be returning to Liberty for the fifth and final season of eligibility in 2023-24 and utilizing their COVID year.
This news comes on the heels of three Flames’ entering the transfer portal earlier in the week, as Blake Preston, Jonathan Jackson, and Isiah Warfield announced their intentions to begin a new chapter.
Rode ranked second in scoring (10.9 points per game) and assists (3.5 per game) for the Flames this past season while adding 3.5 rebounds per game as a starting forward. He was also second on the team in three-point shooting in both made field threes (71) and three point percentage (39.9%). He ranked behind Darius McGhee’s school record of 162 made triples and behind Brody Peebles who shot 41.3% from behind the arc.
The 6’7″ senior forward from Lexington, Kentucky has played in 131 career games at Liberty while making 102 starts. He has started all except one game over the past three seasons for the Flames. He was named the ASUN’s 2022-23 Scholar Athlete of the Year while also earning second-team all-conference honors for a second straight season.
Rode, who is the highest rated recruit in program history to ever sign with the Flames out of high school, scored a season-high 23 points in the ASUN title game at Kennesaw State. He also became the 31st member of the 1,000-point club this past season. He reached double figures scoring in 21 games this past season and has four career 20-point games.
Robinson was fourth in scoring (7.6 points per game) and third in rebounds (3.6 per game) this past season. He started the first 14 games of the year before becoming one of the team’s top reserves for the second half of the campaign. Robinson is also one of the team’s top defenders as he frequently draws one of the top offensive players from the other team.
A 6’7″ forward, Robinson has started 46 games during his time in a Liberty uniform while appearing in 132 games. He scored a career-high 27 points against North Alabama earlier in the season while posting his second career double-double in the win at North Florida. He scored in double figures in 10 games during this past season including a stretch of four straight in late January.
