No87 PAUL ROGERS
7 feet 0 inch (212cm) Forward/Centre
2000, 2004Olympic Games
The Australian Boomers were travelling down to Wollongong to play Lithuania in the last pre-Olympic match prior to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The Boomers defeated Lithuania, there were no injuries and all the players were buoyant as they were now ready for the Olympics.
Paul Rogers one of Andrew’s team-mates tells what happened next. “As the guys were icing down in the change-room after the game “Drewy” (Andrew Gaze) walked into the centre of the change-room...lifted a clenched fist...dropped his head and his eyes filled with tears....we all wondered what the hell was going on? Then the penny dropped...the change-room erupted...drinks, ice and tape went flying. Andrew was engulfed by every player and official in the room as we realise he was to be Olympic Team Captain and was to carry the Olympic Flag at the Opening Ceremony in Sydney 2000. I was so proud of him, and I was in a team of some the greatest players ever for Australia...it was surreal to say the least and one of the fondest memories of my career. I felt so blessed and lucky to be there at that moment.”
Paul Andrew Rogers was born September 29th, 1973 in Adelaide, South Australia. He started playing basketball around six years of age as his mother and father played sociallyand he went along to watch. His first games were at St. Bernard's Recreation Centre in Adelaide. North Adelaide was his first District Club. He recalls, “I think in around under 12's I had the painful experience of watching my entire division Two team move up to division One in our second year, except me. I probably wasn’t very good but it was humiliating hearing all the names but mine called out and it was a feeling I didn’t want to have again.”
Some-time later Paul switched to Norwood Basketball Club but in under 14's he broke his wrist and had the feeling that basketball wasn’t really going anywhere for him so he favoured playing AFL “footy”, cricket and water polo. He did not play organised basketball again until under 20's. In all the time away from the game a huge influence on him was his best friend and school mate Nathan Hawkes. One-on-one basketball in Nathan’s backyard was almost a daily occurrence so Paul never lost the feel of the basketball in his hands. At age sixteen he had an incredible growth spurt and shot up from around 6 feet (183cm) to just under 7 feet (210cm) in about eighteen months. Suddenly everyone wanted him to play basketball again.
He went back to Norwood and was playing under 20 Division 3 when theAdelaide 36'ers National Basketball League (NBL) Coach Don Shipway saw him playing on another court while he was watching his daughter. Don invited Paul to come and train with him and Brett Wheeler every morning at 6am at Apollo stadium.
Paul recalls that he was in utter shock, but accepted and started working out with Don and Brett who Paul admired as Brett was a member of the Adelaide 36ers NBL team.
Soon Paul moved up to under 20 Division 1 and was asked to play for Norwood in the District Men’s Team. In his first game against Noarlunga at Apollo stadium, he remembers matching up against former Australian player Rick Hodges and doing fairly well. “We went out for pizza after the game with my mates and one of them, Brenton Hall, exclaimed that one day I would play for Australia.......everyone else at the table burst out laughing and nearly choked on their pizza.”
To Paul’s surprise he was selected to the South Australian (SA) Under 20 Team and then was invited to train with the Adelaide 36er’s Development Squad. “I was very excited to be training with the likes of Mark Davis, Mark Bradtke, Brett Maher, and Mike Mackay,” recalls Paul.
He played his first NBL pre-season game in 1992 against North Melbourne in Horsham. Paul recalls, “I scored four points against Paul Maley ...and was over the moon...then I caught a train at midnight to join our under 20 SA team for the 1992 Under 20 Nationals Championships in Canberra where we won the title. My basketball had really started to resemble a whirlwind.....it just all happened so fast. The next year I made the under 23 Australian Team coached by Gordie McLeod and went to the 1993 Worlds Championships in Spain where we came 8th.”
Paul went on to play for the 36ers in the 1992 and 1993 season before accepting a scholarship(set up by then 36ers coach American Don Monson) to play basketball in the US College system at North Idaho College. At North Idaho Paul was named to the North Western Athletic Conference (NWAC) All Conference Team, was his team’s highest scorer and received an Honourable Mention-Junior College-All American. His performances at Idaho secured him recruiting from big colleges such as Syracuse, Arizona, UCLA and North Carolina. Paul however had committed to Gonzaga University where Monson’s son coached. “It was a decision I was never to regret,” says Paul.
In his first season at Gonzaga (1995) Paul, fellow Aussie John Rillie and the “Zags” won the West Coast Conference (WCC) and went to the NCAA tournament for the first time in the College’s history. In their NCAA game Gonzaga played powerhouse Maryland and even though they lost Paul had a strong game against future No1 NBA draft pick Joe Smith when he scored 14 points, secured 8 rebounds and blocked 4 shots.
The next year (1996) Paul’s junior year at Gonzaga was a break-out year for him in Division One College when he was voted to the all WCC 1st team and finished 2nd by two votes to Steve Nash as WCC Player of the Year. His future seemed assured.It did not turn out that way.
“The following year was the worst of my life,” he recalls. “I broke my foot wake-boarding and was forced to sit out (red-shirt) the year, my grandmother passed away, then I received a phone-call from my mum telling me that my father had committed suicide. I idolised dad and his death devastated me. I was 23 years of age, living away from home (he was able to return home for his dad’s funeral) and unable to play basketball. I became very depressed and felt my days at Gonzaga were over so I decided to forgo my next (and last year) at Gonzaga and I nominated for the NBA draft.”
“This was probably not the best thing for me to do as I had not played for a year, but I felt that if unsuccessful I could come back to Australia and play in the NBL.”
To his great surprise, he was chosen in the 1997 NBA draft by the LA Lakers. He attended their Training Camp but never played for them, was traded to the Toronto Raptors but did not play in the NBA.
Paul was then offered a contract with the Real Madrid Club in Spain. He accepted. “As much to get away from home and memories of dad’s death...and pretend it didn’t happen.” Paul continued to suffer from depression for the rest of his career.
In 1998 Paul returned to Australia to play for the Perth Wildcats in the National Basketball League (NBL). He played half a season with the Wildcats before breaking his ankle and missing the rest of the NBL season. Nevertheless he was signed by the Toronto Raptors NBA Club that same year, was placed on the injured reserve list, and spent the season on the bench watching the games.
In 1998 Paul played his first games for the Australian Men’s Team (Boomers) when they played the touring Japanese and Canadian National Teams. His play was impressive enough for him to be chosen to pay for Australiathe 1998 World Championships held in Greece. On the way to Greece Paul played with the Boomers when they took the Silver Medal in the Goodwill games in New York.The Boomersfinished 9th in Greece.
Paul returned to Australia to play for the Perth Wildcats in the NBL in the 1999/2000 season. He was named to the All NBL First Team that year. In 2000 he won the NBL title with Perth, was named to the All NBL First Team, and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the NBL. In 2001 he was named to the All NBL Second Team and in 2007/08 season to the All NBL Third Team.
Paul was chosen by Australian Coach Barry Barnes to be a member of the 1999, and 2000 Australian Squads. In 1999 he played with the Boomers in Australia in the Russian series and the Canadian Series, and in Germany and Greece in the Berlin Cup and the Acropolis Tournament.
The “biggest moment” for all Australian basketball players and fans was upon them in 2000 when Sydney hosted the Olympic Games.
Paul played for the Boomers in the “Olympic Test Event”, against the touring Russian National Team, and on the tour to Italy and France. He was named to the Australian Men’s Basketball Team for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The Boomers played in the FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament in Hong Kong, in a game against the USA in Melbourne, and against Lithuania in Wollongong just before the Olympic Games.
“I was in a team with some of the greatest players to have ever played for Australia, guys that it seemed only a couple of years before I idolised and would have asked for their autographs, and now I was preparing to go into an Olympics with them as a team mate. It was surreal to say the least!” remembers Paul.
Paul’s role on the team was to be back-up centre to NBA star Luc Longley and veteran Mark Bradtke.
The Boomers played exceptionally well, reached the semi-finals only to lose the playoff games to France and Lithuania to secure 4th place, the equal best result by the Boomers in Olympic competition.
Paul played for the Boomers in 2001 in the East Asia Games, against the USA in Melbourne and in the Goodwill Games in Brisbane. He was a member of the Boomers Team that played in the Oceania 2002 World Championships Qualification Tournament. The Boomers were beaten by New Zealand in the Oceania Tournament and failed to qualify for the 2002 World Championships.
Paul played for the Perth Wildcats in the 2000/2001 season and the 2001/2002 season where he was named in the All NBL First Team. In the off season he had both ankles reconstructed through surgery.
In 2002 Paul moved from Perth back to Adelaide to play the 2002/03 season with the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL. He broke his foot and only played eleven games for the 36ers.
From 2003 to 2005 he played with CasademontGirona in the Liga ACB in Spain.
Paul was a member of the Boomers team that went on a tour to Europe in 2003. In 2004 he played with the Boomers in the Four Nations Tournament in Italy, against New Zealand and was selected for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. He was off to his second Olympic Games.
Leading into the 2004 Olympics Paul played with the Boomers in the FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament in Belgrade and in the Italy International Tournament.
It was Paul’s second Olympic Games and he was to play a much larger role on the team than he did in Sydney 2000. The Boomers struggled in Athens and secured ninth position, a disappointment after their 4th place in Sydney.
In the 2006/07 season Paul moved back to the Perth Wildcats and captained the Club.He played his last games for Australia when he was a member of the Australian Team that won the Gold Medal at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
In the 2007/08 season with Perth Paul was named to the All NBL Third Team. Paul had a career greatly affected by injuries and he often missed extended periods of basketball. In the 2008/2009 season with Perth he missed most of the season due to injury. He played through injuries until he retired from basketball and the Wildcats after the Wildcats won the 2009/10 NBL title. During that season Paul snapped his triceps tendon in what was a career ending injury.
Paul identifies Barry Barnes and Don Shipway as having huge influences on his career. “Barry was like a footy coach and could give you a rocket, but he gave me a start with the Boomers and I always felt a great connection with him. Don Shipway was huge for me in my early career. He ‘discovered’ me, believed in me and thought I had a future in the game.”
Paul was a very mobile, talented, athletic “big man” with very good skills, a sweet “baby hook shot”, strong rebounding intensity, and was one of the finest Australian players in his generation in the centre position.
Paul Rogers was an outstanding Australian basketball player who excelled on stages in US College basketball, in European Club basketball, in the NBL and for Australia. In 2013 he was named to the Perth Wildcats 30Year Anniversary Team.
Paul Rogers dunks in the NBL against the Melbourne Tigers (Perth Wildcats)
Paul goes up to block a shot in an Australia v New Zealand game (Basketball Australia/Sport the Library)