Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
A conversation with American University’s very own on all things basketball, The Team’s NCAA Tournament Appearance, and what’s next for AU’s Patriot League Standout…
When asked who he felt the greatest basketball player of all time was, Matt Rogers answered assertively, with just two words: “Lebron James.” Clearly, American University’s Patriot League hero knows ball. And he can play it too: Rogers led the AU Men’s Basketball team in points and field goal percentage this season, averaging 16.7 ppg with a whooping 55.8 percent field goal percentage. He made 60 threes on the year, and averaged 5.5 rebounds per game, stats that eventually helped lead the team to its first patriot league title in 9 years, and earned Rogers a spot on the First-Team All-Patriot League roster. I just had to know who his game was modeled after.
“If I wanted to be like anybody growing up it was KD, ‘cause KD is from the area, but I don’t really play like KD at all,” said Rogers. “But, if there was somebody right now that I could see my game translating to, it would probably be a Luka-type.”
“Not necessarily the shot creating ability ‘cause he’s insane, but I feel that I kind of play with that slow pace—I let the game come to me kinda thing—I don’t rush, so if it was anyone I’d say Luka, just minus the crazy step backs and shit.”
Throughout our conversation, it became clear to me that Matt Rogers possesses a deep love for the game of basketball, a passion that manifested itself on the court this year. Rogers’ season was all sunshine and rainbows: he hit a clutch go-ahead- bucket with 3.2 seconds left to beat Lafayette in February, was crowned the Patriot League Men’s Basketball Championship MVP, and possesses enough basketball lore to keep his future grandkids entertained for hours— and then, in the dying embers of the Eagles’ fairytale run, Rogers’ season, and basketball career, took an unexpected turn.
“It was really kind of a freak thing… it was [my knee] feeling a bit weird and I was like, ‘Alright, I can’t sub myself out or anything like that, I’m gonna try to walk it off,’ and play—and I did. I went up once or twice more and I eventually came down and was like, ‘Yeah ref, I need a sub,’” said Rogers.
In the moment, it was win or go home for the Eagles: a loss would spell the end of this storybook of a season, while a win would pencil in a match-up with Duke and the NBA’s projected number one pick, Cooper Flagg. And yet, when AU needed Rogers the most, the basketball gods decided otherwise.
“When I first figured out that something was seriously wrong, a lot of emotions poured out, a lot of tears between me, my trainer, and then my mom and girlfriend came in right away,” explained Rogers. “In that moment it was this realization that it was not about me. It’s about flipping that mindset back and thinking, how can I be the best leader that I can be for my team?”
Although he stands at about a foot and a half taller than the average AU male, Rogers does a pretty good job at passing as one of us. A pair of Birkenstocks and a baggy camouflage hoodie seemed to prove that even a 6’9” power forward can’t escape the jaws of AU’s “indie” bite. However, what truly separates Rogers from the average Eagle is that he’s alarmingly selfless. In what may have been the lowest moment of his basketball career, he surrendered his final moments in an Eagle’s jersey to everyone but himself, ambivalent to the myth he had become.
Rogers revealed in an instagram post that the injury he suffered against Mount St. Mary’s was a tear to his ACL, the stereotypical, devastatingly unexpected injury that has warranted the most “what if” stories in the history of sports. But Rogers says his journey is far from finished.
“I’m not done at all. I’m going to play the game of basketball as long as I possibly can. After I rehab and get back into basketball shape I’m going to start my G-League, NBA, or overseas career.”
Although our star player has big league aspirations I can’t help but think that AU still lacks an identity when it comes to athletics. Here, our intramural leagues struggle to fill rosters, the same 20 guys seem to litter open-court nights, and outside of the “suit mafia,” our student section is about six deep, three wide, and as sober as a judge. Even Rogers himself understands the climate he’s a part of. When asked about the prospect of American University ever developing a football program, he said, “It just wouldn’t make sense here in my opinion, the vibe of a football team at our typa school, with its very liberal persona. I just don’t know if it would mesh very well, so I’m kinda glad we don’t have a football team.”
When all is said and done, American University may not ever reach “sports school” status, even after an electrifying run to the Big Dance. In the end, the tote bags will still swing more than rally towels, students will choose jorts over jerseys, and Pitchers will still be frequented more than Bender Arena. But Matt Rogers can graduate knowing that he, and the rest of the Eagles, built the start of something, something I felt was impossible to achieve: they made AU care.
For one, shining moment, a school who feels entitled to success in the real world understood what it felt like to be the underdog. For once, AU wasn’t just the punchline, it was the story itself.