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03/19/2015 01:00 AMWhen it came to Chris Rogers’s contributions on the basketball court, his impact was measured more through heart and hustle than points and assists.
The senior co-captain guard for this year’s Indians never thought about playing basketball until the 5th grade, when a friend invited him to a Parks and Recreation league practice. From there, Chris pushed himself upward in the sport and finished his final campaign by averaging seven points and three rebounds per night. Yet according to Head Coach Jeff DeMaio, Chris’s true prominence was displayed in the intangibles category.
“Chris is a tough, tenacious, hard-nosed, and determined competitor,” says DeMaio. “There truly is no one tougher. No one.”
Chris explains that his nonstop motor came from a distaste for defeat, as well as a love for his teammates and a desire to propel them to do their best.
“Really, my determination I think comes from a love for the game. I don’t want to lose, so I do whatever I can to leave it all out there. I try to hustle out there and dive for loose balls to try and motivate them,” says Chris. “I also love to just run around and have fun playing with my friends, which also gives us motivation to push each other. I did whatever I could to help the team and I never planned on certain numbers each night.”
When it came to his scoring attack with the rock, Chris liked to work from the inside out. In terms of his effort on the glass, it was all about getting his hands up as soon as the ball left the rim.
“With scoring, I tried to start by driving to bodies in the middle to start a game and then strike with the mid-range shots and finally the three-pointers,” Chris says. “For threes, I liked to shoot them from the top of the key and the corners and I liked the 18-foot shot from midrange. I liked to work from the inside out so I could work the middle and force the defense to collapse. At 5-foot-6, I tried to just box out for rebounds and find a body to get on whenever the shot went up.”
In his final year at Guilford, Chris proved a leader on a youth-laden club that made some strong strides despite missing the postseason. Chris says his job entailed getting the youngsters’ feet wet at the varsity level.
“We took a step back in terms of our final record this year, but we had a lot of younger bodies out there, so I tried to help them feel out the varsity process and help with their mistakes,” says Chris. “I felt I was with them the whole step of the way in helping them get a feel for the varsity vibe.”
Prior to this season, Chris was a part of a great two-year run that saw the Indians go a combined 28-16 with a pair state tournament bids, plus a home SCC Tournament victory—all achievements that he will never forget.
“We were trying to rebuild this team since I got here my freshman year and we ended up with a couple of appearances in states,” says Chris, who thanks his entire family and Coach DeMaio. “It was a really special team to be on and a great experience.”