Randy Rogers is entering his fourth season as the head basketball coach at his alma mater, Concordia University Chicago.
Rogers' first three seasons have been transition years for the basketball program as his predominantly young teams have begun to build a base for the program. His team brought an up-tempo offense that past Concordia-Chicago teams have not had. With 15 new players added to the 2016-17 roster, Rogers has brought in players that fit his system. One of them, forward Jarek Hotwagner, was named the conference's Freshman Player of the Year. Additionally, Rogers has coached forward/guard Mitch Pelissier into a leadership role on the court as he earned 2017-18 Honorable Mention accolades from the NACC.
Rogers was a starting guard/forward and co-captain for the Cougars from 1980-83 under CUC Hall of Fame coach Tom Faszholz. Transferring in as a sophomore from Concordia Ann Arbor, he averaged 12.7 points in his first season with the Cougars in 1980-81 and was a member of that year's Concordia Invitational Tournament (CIT) championship team.
Rogers' coaching career began in 1983 at River Roads Lutheran School in St. Louis, MO where he coached future CUC Hall of Fame guard Darron Lowe '93. In 1989, he moved on to Rockford (IL) Lutheran High School and assisted with the boys' varsity for four seasons, including the team's Elite Eight season in 1991.
In 1993, Rogers returned to St. Louis where he became guidance counselor and girls' varsity basketball coach at Lutheran High School South. He would coach at LHSS for the next 12 years, highlighted by a trip to the Elite Eight in 2003.
Valley Lutheran High School in Saginaw, MI was the next stop for Rogers as he took a position as guidance counselor and boys' varsity basketball coach in 2005. In his 10 years at VLHS, he led the Chargers to Tri-Valley Conference titles in 2009 and 2014, both times with a perfect 14-0 record. Rogers' 2013 team won a district championship in 2013 when that team advanced to Michigan's Sweet 16 and became only the second in school history to record 20 wins.
While Rogers now moves up to accept the challenge of coaching at the college level, he believes that he could be in no better place to do so. "I am very excited to be back at my alma mater where I had the opportunity to learn the game from Coach Faszholz and play with some great teammates like Jim Ledebuhr '82, Tim Reinking '83 and Dave Stellwagen '85. Over these past 30 years, I have kept in touch with several of my classmates and teammates, and I believe that I will have great support from this great base of alumni as I get settled in at CUC."
Rogers is married to Linda (Begeman '81), and the couple has three grown children – Kari, James and Bethany.
