MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There have been a flurry of commitments to the Memphis Tigers as Penny Hardaway tries to build his roster for next season. Colby Rogers is one of the latest additions to the new collection of talent in Memphis hoping to bring a championship to the city next season.
Tigers fans should be plenty familiar with Rogers. They saw him three times last season as a member of Wichita State, the team that ended the Tigers season in the AAC Tournament. He averaged 17.3 points in the three contests, including 13 points in the tournament matchup.
He hopes Tigers fans do not hold that loss against him.
"[Memphis] beat us twice. Technically, they got us two to one," Rogers said. "I’m just a competitor. I just want to compete. I hope it’s no hard feelings. I hope the city is ready to embrace me. I’m ready to embrace the city."
Rogers is an elite sharpshooter. He scored 16 points a game while making 40.9% of his three-point attempts last season, good for top 25 in the country. That scoring ability made him attractive to Hardaway.
Hardaway’s NBA experience was attractive to Rogers, who has professional aspirations himself.
"That information is priceless, especially with someone that’s played the game at as high a level as he’s played it at; it’s hard to argue his expertise," Rogers said. "[The coaching staff] understood that it’s my last year. I really want to win."
That winning feeling is not something that Rogers has experienced much of in college. He played on losing teams for two years at Cal Poly and one season at Siena College. After sitting a season to satisfy NCAA requirements, his Wichita Shockers went 15-19 in 2023-2024.
Rogers was a top two scorer on each of those teams, including 16 points per game to lead Wichita State.
Hardaway and the coaching staff received a little help in recruiting Rogers. Tulsa's transfer guard PJ Haggerty, who was the first to commit to Memphis this season, hit Rogers' line with a pitch of his own.
"Just to have a teammate that don’t really know me from Adam to reach out and say, 'I want to play with you. I like your game,' things like that. I’m also a fan of his, so it just worked," Rogers said.
With the collection of talent Memphis has so far (transfers in Haggerty, Texas guard Tyrese Hunter, George Mason guard Bakara Okojie, Illinois forward Dain Dainja. Returning forward Nicholas Jourdain and possibly guard David Jones) and more talent to come, Rogers is confident Memphis can make up for last season’s woes.
"Keep the main goal the main goal. Just understand that as a team if we play together, it’ll help us individually," Rogers.
Rogers is now one of five Tigers to commit to Memphis from the transfer portal. He said he picked the Tigers over Kansas, Michigan and Alabama.