Murphy Lady Bulldogs girls basketball junior Torin Rogers verbally committed to the University of Richmond on May 23. Rogers had numerous Division I offers, choosing the Spiders over the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, Wofford and Appalachian State.
“Richmond was a school that checked all the boxes for me,” Rogers said. “It was a great fit academically, it was a great fit athletically. I loved the coaches, and I’ve actually been able to meet some of the girls on Zoom, and I really liked the girls.”
A 6-feet, 1-inch guard/forward, Rogers has been an integral part of back-to-back 1A state championship teams. In this year’s state championship, a 76-346 win over Princeton High School, Rogers was named the Kay Yow 1A women’s basketball championship game Most Valuable Player.
Rogers describes herself as a position-less player, as does Murphy girls basketball head coach Ray Gutierrez. As a freshman, Rogers mostly played in the post, but her role has only grown as she’s added more skills to her game. As a sophomore, she started to play more on the perimeter, and last year she ran point guard for the Lady Bulldogs.
“Her skill set has always been really good, really advanced,” Gutierrez said. “And she’s kind of taken it to the next level. Especially in our (Smoky Mountain) Conference, she’s unguardable.”
Rogers’ commitment ends what has unfortunately been a unique recruiting process. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, recruiting has been in a dead period since March 13, 2020. This means that there have been no in-person recruiting events since that date, and all communication with coaches and players since has been virtual.
The COVID-induced dead period started around the time Rogers recruiting picked up, which meant multiple zooms a night with players and coaches. She still visited some of the schools she was considering on her own, and a visit to the campus is what catapulted Richmond to the top of her list. Once she talked with the coaches, it was a done deal.
“The schools that offered me or were talking to me, I would go on my own and check out campus,” Rogers said. “We did that for Richmond around Christmastime. I fell in love with it when I stepped on campus, it’s awesome there.”
Now that her college choice is set, Rogers can go back to improving her game. She continues to work out at 7 a.m. in Murphy’s gym every morning, then return every night for skill development work. Both Rogers and Gutierrez said the biggest things she needs to improve are speed and strength, which is common for high school players when they transition to playing in college. Since Rogers is working to be a player who can play and guard all five position, that’s especially important.
“She’s going to have to guard everybody on the court when she goes to college,” Gutierrez said. “Whether that be a quick point guard or a back-to-the-(basket)-type player. She’s going to have to get stronger and then also faster.
“I think skill set wise, she shoots it really good, handles it really good, good passer, good decision maker. Just those things of getting in the weight room, doing some agility stuff – those are some things that she knows she has to work on and she has to get better.”