At 5-4, ‘Dominant’ Rogers Sees NBA on the Horizon

With a straight face, George Washington coach Tom Penders calls Shawnta Rogers “simply, unquestionably the most dominant player in college basketball.”

Say what? The kid’s only 5-foot-4.

“The best 5-foot-4 player who ever lived,” La Salle coach Speedy Morris said after his team lost to the Colonials on Rogers’ game-winner at the buzzer. “He just took over.”

When Rogers arrived as a freshman three years ago, he was 5-foot-3 and proclaimed the next Muggsy Bogues. Both were the same height and from Baltimore.

The 23-year-old Rogers has since topped Bogues in height and legend--at least at the college level--with a remarkable year. He’s on pace to become the first player ever to lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring, steals and assists.

“When I was an assistant at Wake {Forest}, we had Muggsy,” Old Dominion coach Jeff Capel said. “And there hasn’t been anybody like Muggsy until Shawnta. He can get from A to B quicker than anybody and recover back to A. He’s a weapon.”

The snow drifts were higher than Rogers when he made his Colonials debut at the Smith Center on the heels of the Blizzard of ’96.

The 1,500 stir-crazy fans who made it out to that January game were rewarded with a show by Rogers, who leaped on the press table to save a ball and chased down every wayward rebound.

Rebounds? You bet. Rogers once grabbed an incredible 14 in a game his sophomore year, one of two times in his career he’s led all players on both teams. His career rebounding average is just under five per game, and this season he is third in rebounding among the 14 point guards nominated for the Wooden award.

Yes, Rogers is a contender for the Wooden award, presented to the nation’s top college basketball player. He led the nominated point guards in assists (6.9) and steals (3.9) and was second in scoring (21.7) going into Saturday’s game at Temple. He leads the A-10 in all three categories, and is George Washington’s all-time leader in assists and steals.

Then, beyond whatever college accolades come his way, there is the NBA, where Bogues has made a living for 12 seasons and 5-foot-5 rookie Earl Boykins has earned some playing time this month with the New Jersey Nets.

Scouts, now a regular fixture at the Smith Center, love the way Rogers is unafraid to drive in the lane among the trees, then make a last-minute, airborne, body-swivel that gives him just enough daylight to sink his shot.

Ask Rogers about his height and he’ll roll his eyes. His focus is on playing the game--and his future.

“[The NBA] always crosses my mind,” Rogers said. “That’s what I’m going to be working for. But I’m not going to mess up the game because I’m worried about NBA scouts. I’m going to try to win the game whether they’re here or not.”

Three years ago, size wasn’t the only thing working against Rogers, who was already a father when he emerged from the streets of Baltimore and Lake Clifton High School.

His college-entrance test scores weren’t high enough. But because of a learning disability that makes it difficult for him to read, he was allowed to take the test orally and passed in time to enroll at George Washington in the spring semester.

Then the street-smart, run-and-gunner was confronted by a virtual United Nations of a locker room recruited by coach Mike Jarvis. With 7-footer Belarussian Alexander Koul the centerpiece, and players from Spain, Portugal, Israel, Canada and the Netherlands on the roster, Rogers was playing a strange game--the half-court offense--with strange people.

Things said on the playground back home don’t always come across the right way to someone from Minsk, Belarus.

“People don’t realize how tough that is, getting everybody on the same page,” Rogers said. “It would be much easier if I had guys from the States. I wouldn’t have to say as much. With the team I’ve got, I have to lead them, and try not to upset them with the way I say things.”

Now Koul has graduated, Jarvis has moved on to St. John’s, and new coach Tom Penders has given Rogers the freedom to run, control and create. It took him only 21 seconds to force the first turnover in George Washington’s 78-72 victory over Massachusetts on Wednesday, the 13th win in 15 games for the Colonials (17-6).

In five games in February, Rogers has averaged 26 points.

Meanwhile, Rogers is juggling basketball with fatherhood and books. While he remains on course to get his sociology degree this fall in the prescribed four years--a plan that could be interrupted by the NBA--his 5-year-old son, Terrell, lives with the boy’s mother in Baltimore.

“I’m close. That was one consideration in coming here,” Rogers said. “I can go home and see my son and be a dad, but I still don’t see him as much as I’d like to.”

On the other hand, Rogers’ former coach would prefer not to come across the diminutive playmaker, at least not during the NCAA tournament.

“The only player I don’t want to see in March,” Jarvis said, “is Shawnta Rogers.”