BRONX, N.Y. – A five-year standout who finished his Fordham career as the program's all-time leader in games played, Kyle Rose has signed a contract with the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League.
Rose becomes the second former Fordham player to join the NBA's official minor league, as Smush Parker played 23 games in 2004-05 with the Florida Flame and 18 games in 2008-09 with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
After wrapping his transformative Fordham tenure this spring, Rose began his professional career with Cangrejeros de Santurce and Vaqueros de Bayamon in Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), Puerto Rico's top league. In his final nine games with Bayamon, Rose averaged 12.1 points in 21.6 minutes per game, shooting a blistering 60.6% (20-33) from three-point range. He also posted 3.1 boards, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals per contest. Over his final four games of the season, Rose averaged 19.3 points per outing, scoring 22 points or more in three of those contests.
Rose's Fordham career was a testament to perseverance. The Upper Marlboro, Md., native joined the Rams in 2019-20, averaging 1.6 points per game as a freshman for a team that finished 9-22 and won just two Atlantic 10 games. The following season, Rose took a step forward, averaging 5.3 points per outing. Few teams in the country, however, were more affected by the pandemic than Fordham, which played only 14 games and went through a mid-year coaching change. Kyle Neptune took over as Fordham's head coach the following season, and Rose played a key part in the program's quick turnaround. He appeared in all 32 games, starting 29, and averaged 7.5 points for a team that finished 16-16 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time in 15 years. When Neptune left for Villanova and Associate Head Coach Keith Urgo took the reins, Rose again elected to stay at Rose Hill. He averaged 7.3 points per outing, but his biggest contribution came on the other end of the floor, as Rose established a reputation as one of the Atlantic 10's most fearsome defenders and earned the first of two straight A-10 All-Defensive Team nods. With Rose as an upperclassman anchor, Fordham went 25-8 and finished tied for second in the A-10 standings at 12-6. The Rams reached the semifinals of the A-10 Tournament for just the second time in program history. In his fifth year with the program in 2024-25, Rose took another step forward, leading the team with 10.8 points per game, including a 14.0 point per outing effort on 40.5 percent shooting from deep in conference play. He especially excelled on the road, averaging 17.7 points in A-10 road games.
Rose finished his collegiate tenure as Fordham's all-time leader in games played with 141 while ranking fifth on the program's career steals list with 218. He also ranks sixth on the Rams' all-time 3-pointers made list with 189.
The Fordham Rams will begin their first season without Kyle Rose since 2018 on Monday, Nov. 4, when they travel to St. John's for a 6:30 p.m. contest against the Red Storm in Queens. The game will air live nationally on FS1.
The Mexico City Capitanes will play their first game of the 2024-25 NBA G League season against the Birmingham Squadron on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala.
