Colby Rogers commits to returning to Wichita State basketball with NIL deal announcement

Taylor Eldridge
·2 min read
3
Colby Rogers will have to sit out this season as a redshirt after the Siena transfer had his waiver to play immediately denied by the NCAA on Thursday.

He has waited an entire season to play for the Wichita State men’s basketball team and a coaching change hasn’t altered the mind of Colby Rogers.

The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter, who was forced to redshirt this past season after transferring from Siena, has committed to playing for the Shockers in the 2023-24 season — regardless of who is hired as the next head coach.

Rogers confirmed his commitment to stay to The Eagle and Armchair Strategies, a collective focused on providing WSU student-athletes with opportunities to cash in on their name, image and likeness, publicly announced a new deal with Rogers on Saturday afternoon.

Financial terms were not released, but Armchair Strategies told The Eagle that Rogers will receive an NIL stipend each month in exchange for his work on a variety of activities that will mostly center around charity work in Wichita.

A total of four WSU players, which includes three scholarship players and two starters, have entered the NCAA transfer portal since head coach Isaac Brown was fired after a 17-15 season concluded last weekend.

If Rogers followed them into the portal, there was a chance he would not be immediately eligible next season, given he has already transferred two times — from Cal Poly to Siena in 2021 and from Siena to WSU in 2022. He will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Shockers beginning next season.

Rogers is considered an immediate impact player, one who coaches and players on this past season’s WSU team believed could have made a significant difference in how the season played out.

“It would be like adding another sniper to our team,” said WSU point guard Craig Porter last November. “But he’s not just one type of player. He’s not just a shooter. He can defend at a high level. He can play off the bounce. He can play the one if you need him to. He has that poise as a player. He’s a real flamethrower.”

Rogers averaged a team-high 14.1 points for Siena in the 2021-22 season and ranked top-10 nationally in 3-point percentage with his 42.9% accuracy on 73 makes (23 more than any WSU player this past season). He earned all-conference honors in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, as well.

While Rogers carries a sharpshooter designation, he told The Eagle that he has been focused on becoming a more well-rounded player. He has focused on becoming a weapon in ball screens and fine-tuning his off-the-dribble jumper, as well as improving his on-ball defense.

Rogers figures to be a key piece for the Shockers next season, regardless of who is coach, with his versatility on the wing.