Who is Chance Comanche? Sacramento Kings G League player facing Las Vegas murder charge

Chance Comanche was a rising basketball star at Beverly Hills High School in Southern California long before he was implicated in an alleged murder that has sent shock waves through Sacramento.

Comanche helped a highly-ranked University of Arizona team reach the Sweet 16 in the 2017 NCAA Tournament before turning pro to pursue his dream of playing in the NBA. One week ago, Comanche was playing for the Stockton Kings, a G League affiliate of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. Now, he is facing a murder charge in the death of Marayna Rodgers, a 23-year-old medical assistant from Washington whose remains were found in a desert area in Henderson, Nevada.

The FBI apprehended Comanche, 27, in Sacramento on Friday, two days after his girlfriend, Sakari Harnden, 19, was arrested in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, investigators have determined Comanche and Harnden were responsible for Rodgers’ murder.

Comanche is being held without bail at Sacramento County Main Jail while awaiting extradition to Las Vegas, where the Clark County District Attorney’s Office plans to charge him with murder, authorities said. Comanche is scheduled to appear before a judge in Sacramento Superior Court at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Beverly Hills High School

Comanche, a 6-foot-11 center, averaged 20.1 points, 16.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game as a senior at Beverly Hills High, where the school crest is underscored by the campus motto: Today Well Lived.

Comanche’s name appears on a list of notable alumni on the school’s Wikipedia page. Others include Jack Abramoff, Corbin Bernsen, Nicolas Cage, Jamie Lee Curtis, Richard Dreyfus, Carrie Fisher, Angelina Jolie, Lenny Kravitz, Monica Lewinsky, Erik Menendez, David Schwimmer, Pauly Shore, Tori Spelling and Betty White.

Comanche led Beverly to a Southern Section championship during his senior year. The Normans finished 26-6 after losing in the Southern California regional quarterfinals.

Comanche was the 2015 Southern Section Division 3A Player of the Year and a Division III all-state selection. ESPN ranked him as the nation’s No. 91 recruit in the 2015 recruiting class. He was the 13^th-ranked center and 12^th-ranked player from California. Rivals ranked Comanche as the nation’s No. 32 recruit.

University of Arizona

Comanche appeared in 23 games as a true freshman at Arizona under coach Sean Miller, averaging 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.0 minutes per game. He grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over Missouri and scored a season-high six points in a Pac-12 Conference Tournament game against Oregon.

Comanche played a bigger role as a key reserve as a sophomore in 2016-17, averaging 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per game. He was suspended indefinitely due to academic reasons in November 2016, but he was reinstated before the season began.

Comanche led the Wildcats in field-goal percentage at 57.1%. He posted his first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Stanford. He had a career-high 14 points against New Mexico. In the first of two career starts, he had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots in a win over Washington.

Arizona went 31-4 overall and 16-2 in the Pac-12 to win a share of the conference title. The Wildcats defeated Oregon in the championship game of the Pac-12 tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West regional. They beat North Dakota and Saint Mary’s before losing to 11^th-seeded Xavier in the Sweet 16.

Arizona’s wins from the 2016-17 season were later vacated amid the fallout from the 2017-18 college basketball corruption scandal. That team featured Utah Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen and former New York Knicks guard Allonzo Trier.

Professional basketball

Following his sophomore season, Comanche chose to forego his final two years of college eligibility to enter the 2017 NBA draft, but he went undrafted. Comanche subsequently played for the G League’s Memphis Hustle and Canton Charge, The Basketball League’s Enid Outlaws and Yeni Mamak Spor of the Turkish Basketball First League before signing with the Stockton Kings in November 2022.

Comanche averaged 12.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 11 games for Stockton in 2022-23. He signed with the Portland Trail Blazers on April 9, 2023, and made his NBA debut the same day, posting seven points, three rebounds and one block in a 157-101 loss to the Golden State Warriors. That was his first and only appearance in an NBA game.

Comanche signed with the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 2. He was waived 10 days later but subsequently re-signed with the Stockton Kings. Comanche appeared in 13 G League games for the Kings this season, averaging 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks while shooting 62.5% from the field.

On Dec. 5, the night Rodgers disappeared, Comanche and the Kings were in the Las Vegas area for a game against G League Ignite. Comanche played his last game for Stockton in Tuesday’s 112-106 loss to the Salt Lake City Stars, scoring 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting with 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocked shots. The team released Comanche on Friday, the same day he was arrested.