Aug. 23, 2011
WASHINGTON - Junior women's basketball player Sugar Rodgers (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) has been named to the 2011-12 Preseason "Wade Watch" List for The State Farm® Wade Trophy Division I Player of the Year.
Rodgers is one of 25 student-athletes who best embody the spirit of Lily Margaret Wade according to the following criteria: game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability.
The sophomore shooting guard has been a huge part of the Hoya's turnaround over the past two seasons and had an outstanding sophomore year. She led the squad in scoring averaging 18.7 ppg to also rank second in the conference. She was also proficient on the defensive end leading GU in steals with 90 and rebounds with 171 to average 4.9 rpg. Additionally, Rodgers was second on the team in assists with 85.
Rodgers scored in double figures in all games but two this season and led Georgetown in scoring 25 times as well as in rebounding ten times. As a sophomore she has already scored her 1,000th point and is the all-time leader for points in a season (653), three's in a season (96) and ranks among the top 15 on the all-time scoring list with 1,233.
The Suffolk, Va., native earned BIG EAST Player of the Week honors twice this season and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on six occasions. Once again she was a First Team All-BIG EAST honoree on a unanimous decision in 2011. She was an AP and WBCA Honorable Mention All-American.
Rodgers was one of nine players selected from the BIG EAST including three from Notre Dame and three from Connecticut. The BIG EAST Conference dominated the list with nine players, followed by the Big 12 Conference with four, the Atlantic Coast, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences with three each, the Big Ten Conference with two, and the Colonial Athletic Conference with one.
In her seventh season on the Hilltop, Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy along with Rodgers led the squad to one of the most successful seasons in program history with an overall record of 24-11 and a mark of 9-7 in the BIG EAST. The Hoyas defeated five ranked teams and were ranked in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Polls for the entire year, at one point reaching No. 11 on the AP Poll and No. 12 on the ESPN/USA Today Poll. The Blue & Gray finished the season with an RPI of 12, as well as being ranked 23rd and 14th on the AP and the ESPN/USA Today Polls, respectively.
GU tied for seventh in league play and earned its second-consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament where the Hoyas advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history. Georgetown fell in the Round of 16 to Connecticut, 68-63, despite leading almost the entire game.
The Wade Trophy Coalition was established in June of 2000 when the WBCA partnered with The National Association of Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS). For the past ten years the two have worked together to present The State Farm® Wade Trophy Player of the Year Award. A committee comprised of coaches, administration and media from across the United States select the winner.
This is Rodgers second-consecutive selection to the "Wade Watch" List.
The Hoyas will open practice with the program's annual Midnight Madness celebration on October 14.
