Colby Rogers was already excited about Memphis basketball.
After all, the Wichita State transfer — who committed to play for coach Penny Hardaway on Sunday — initially planned to visit Alabama, then Memphis. But Rogers made a last-minute change, opting first for an in-person meeting with the Tigers — a fortuitous change for them because he never made the trip to Tuscaloosa.
When fellow transfer P.J. Haggerty began pushing for the prolific 3-point shooter to join him in Memphis, the decision-making process went even smoother.
“Obviously, you want to be on a team that has talent and guys capable of playing at a high level,” Rogers told The Commercial Appeal on Sunday. “I know PJ – (AAC) freshman of the year, great player. So when he came to me and said he wanted to play with me, it was a great feeling.
“Another great player who wants to play with you, that makes things easier.”
First of all, it wasn’t a very complicated move for Rogers. Not after he and Hardaway broke bread. It was a comfortable courtship from the start, according to Rogers, who also drew strong interest from Kansas, Michigan, USC, Arkansas, Oklahoma and St. Louis.
The 6-foot-1 guard developed a strong reputation as a sharpshooter. He shot 40.9% from 3-point range at Wichita State and made 99 (17th most in the country). Two years earlier, he made 42.9 percent of his 3-point attempts, seventh-best in the country that season.
All of this made him a highly sought-after player when he entered the transfer portal. But Hardaway and the Tigers were who he coveted.
Rogers had several conversations with Hardaway before he even stepped foot on campus.
“He was transparent,” said Rogers, who visited the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center, watched film with Hardaway and attended the first half of the Grizzlies’ season finale Sunday against the Nuggets at FedExForum. “I told him my goals. He told me his goals for me. Things I need to work on, where he sees I can contribute, where he sees I can go.
“All I want is the opportunity. Everything else is up to me, but Memphis is the best place to give me all the resources I need.”
Rogers already knew the Tigers a little before Hardaway even contacted him. With Wichita State, he played three games against Memphis last season, averaging 17.3 points, 3.0 assists and connecting on 52.1 percent of his 3-point attempts. He also had a front-row seat to the Tigers’ disappointing end to the season, when he and the Shockers defeated them in the AAC tournament in March.
Now Rogers is determined to help, not hurt.
“My goal is to play in March and bring that vibe back to the city,” said Rogers, who played his first two seasons at Cal Poly. “In college, I wasn’t on teams that won at a high level. So that’s a big thing for me.”
Although Rogers is a strong 3-point shooter, he is not a one-trick pony. He boasts a career 81.9% free throw percentage and has averaged 12 points or better in each of the last three seasons.
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But Hardaway isn’t interested in Rogers straying from his strengths.
“There are things I know I can take to another level,” Rogers said. “But (Hardaway) also told me, ‘Don’t walk away from what got you here. Don’t reinvent who you are. I want to add another level to my game, but not stray from what I do best.”
And if he can take a page from Haggerty’s book and help with recruiting, Rogers is game.
“Yeah, I mean, if they need me to reach out and help a guy consider Memphis, I’m definitely willing to do that,” he said.
Contact sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on the Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Penny Hardaway and PJ Haggerty led Colby Rogers to Memphis basketball
