Wichita State leading scorer Colby Rogers commits to AAC foe Memphis in transfer portal
For the second straight offseason, Wichita State’s returning leading scorer has transferred to Memphis.
After Jaykwon Walton suited up for the Tigers this past season, and now Colby Rogers plans to do the same for this coming season. The 6-foot-4 sharpshooter announced his commitment to Memphis on Sunday evening.
Rogers, who has one season of eligibility remaining, led WSU in scoring this past season at 16.4 points, while also averaging 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 40.9% on 3-pointers and breaking WSU’s single-season record with 99 triples.
After entering the transfer portal on March 21, Rogers drew attention from some of the top programs in the country. He told The Athletic that he planned to meet with and visit Kansas, Alabama and Michigan, but Sunday’s surprise visit and commitment to Memphis ended that possibility.
Since joining the American Athletic Conference, WSU has seen three players leave the program for an intra-conference transfer to play for Penny Hardaway: Alex Lomax, who signed with WSU but never played in a game, Walton and now Rogers. After averaging 13.9 points and hitting 40% of his 3-pointers at WSU in 2022-23, Walton averaged 8.3 points and shot just 28.7% from deep for Memphis.
With an additional season of eligibility available to him due to the pandemic, Rogers will take advantage of his sixth year of college basketball. Memphis will be his fourth school in his career. Rogers scored 13 points, including a critical 3 late in the game, to help end Memphis’ season in a 71-65 win over the Tigers at the AAC tournament last month.
His basketball journey began as an overlooked prospect from Covington, Georgia and taking a scholarship offer from Cal Poly. After the pandemic hit, Rogers hit the transfer portal for the first time and played for Siena in the 2021-22 season, averaging 14.1 points and ranking top-10 nationally by hitting 42.9% of his 3-pointers.
After that breakout season, Rogers again entered the portal and this time landed with WSU and former coach Isaac Brown. As a two-time undergraduate transfer, Rogers was forced to sit out the 2022-23 season and redshirt his first year on campus.
Rogers ultimately decided to stick with WSU following a coaching change and play for first-year head coach Paul Mills. The last three weeks of the season saw Rogers explode for a career-best 29 points twice in a four-game span where he averaged 26.3 points and connected on 23 3s on 80% accuracy.
“The trust he put in me to carry the offensive load and allow me to play through mistakes and just be who I am, it was a blessing,” Rogers told The Eagle following a season-ending loss to UAB in the conference tournament. “It was a pleasure to play for Paul Mills and I’m happy he put so much trust in me this season.”
Without a natural point guard or much shooting, WSU leaned heavily on Rogers to create offense for the team — often late in the shot clock and without much spacing. He was up for the challenge, posting a career-best 109.3 offensive rating that surely could have been even better under better circumstances.
He’s still a work in progress, but Rogers leveled up his off-the-bounce game during his two years at WSU. Finishing at the rim remains a challenge, but he showed tremendous growth in breaking down defenders, getting to his spots in the mid range and firing over them for jumpers. He was pressured into turnovers at times by defenders who pressed him, but he also showed the ability to make advanced reads in the pick-and-roll game and create for others.
If there’s a weakness to his game, it’s on the defensive end. But it’s also worth pointing out WSU asked him to play a team-high 35 minutes per game and shoulder a huge load on the offensive end.
Rogers is the first player from WSU’s roster last season to find a new home in the transfer portal. Kenny Pohto, Isaac Abidde, Jalen Ricks and Trevor McBride all currently remain uncommitted.
The Shockers haven’t wasted time in rebuilding their roster, landing a sharpshooter in Lipscomb transfer AJ McGinnis and hosting talented guards in Georgia’s Justin Hill and Oral Roberts’ Issac McBride on official visits.
