"Rogers was the Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year in 1991 and player of the year in 1993 whose No. 54 jersey was retired by the Demon Deacons. The burly 6-foot-7 forward with powerful athleticism earned the "Durham Bull" nickname during his prep career, then went on to score nearly 9,500 points in the NBA while being named league sixth man of the year in 2000."
""Rodney is the strongest person I have ever met - physically and mentally - and his resilience was evident in the fight he showed every single day," program great and former teammate Randolph Childress said in a statement released by the school. "I've said this before and I still mean it today: he was the best athlete ever to walk onto Wake Forest's campus. He meant so much to so many people, and I feel profoundly blessed to have been with him yesterday.""
Rodney Rogers starred at Wake Forest, earning ACC rookie of the year in 1991 and player of the year in 1993, and had his No. 54 jersey retired. He was the No. 9 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft and played 12 seasons, scoring nearly 9,500 career points and winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award in 2000. A November 2008 dirt bike accident left him paralyzed from the shoulders down, and he died at 54 of natural causes linked to his spinal cord injury. He founded a namesake foundation to support people with spinal cord injuries and received Wake Forest's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022.
Read at ESPN.com
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