Georgetown University Head Women’s Basketball Coach James Howard announced the addition of WNBA All-Star and Hoya great Sugar Rodgers to the 2021-22 women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach. Rodgers returns to the Hilltop after an eight-year WNBA playing career as well as serving as an assistant coach in the WNBA this current season.
“We are thrilled to welcome back Sugar Rodgers to the Hilltop,” said Howard. “Sugar will play a pivotal role in the development of our guards. The success that she achieved on the court at the highest level will speak volumes to our players and recruits. Her work ethic, integrity and commitment to both Georgetown University and women’s basketball is second to none. Sugar is what we call a ‘rock star’ in the women’s basketball circles and Georgetown is getting an exceptional young woman.”
Coaching was added to Rodgers’ resume in May as she joined the Aces staff as an assistant coach in May. Rodgers will work with the Hoyas during the WNBA’s Olympic break and then return to Vegas before coming to the Hilltop full time at the conclusion of the Aces’ season.
Rodgers spent the last two years of her playing career with the Las Vegas Aces after Vegas acquired the long-distance sharp-shooter on April 11, 2019 from New York. In Vegas, she helped the team to its first two postseason appearances since 2014, and its first WNBA Finals appearance since 2008.
In 2019, Rodgers was part of a group that led the WNBA in three-point shooting by connecting on 35.7 percent of her shots from long range. She saw action in 33 of 34 regular season games, averaging 3.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. In 2020, she averaged 3.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists while playing in all 22 games. Over her eight-year career, Rodgers connected on 34.6 percent of her 3-pointers.
Originally drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in the second round of the 2013 WNBA Draft where she went on to win a WNBA title. The New York Liberty acquired Rodgers in a 2014 trade, where she remained for the next five years. She enjoyed her best season in 2016 when she averaged 14.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while connecting on 41.3 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. New York won its second of three-straight Eastern Conference regular season titles that year. Rodgers followed that up with an All-Star-worthy campaign in 2017, averaging 10.5 points, a career-high 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists en route to being named the WNBA 6th Woman of the Year.
Rodgers is the most decorated player in Georgetown women’s basketball history with unprecedented accomplishments. She was a three-time Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American and a four-time First Team All-BIG EAST honoree. She was the only player in Georgetown history to earn First Team All-BIG EAST four times in her career and one of just two to be named All-BIG EAST all four years.
Rodgers is the all-time leading scorer with 2,518 points to her credit, making her the first women’s player to surpass the 2,000-point mark as well as the first player in Georgetown history to go over 2,500 points, and the career leader in 3-pointers (346) and also holds the single-season record for points (711 in 2012-13).
Despite her scoring prowess she was not one dimensional, holding the all-time steals record (326) as well as ranking eighth in rebounds (674). The shooting guard was a stalwart for the Blue & Gray appearing in 130 games with 129 starts including 104 consecutively.
Rodgers is also a celebrated author recently publishing a memoir titled They Better Call Me Sugar: My Journey from the Hood to the Hardwood.
“Georgetown holds a very special place in my heart,” said Rodgers. “During my time on the Hilltop, I was able to develop as a young woman and a basketball player. I personally understand the power of combining a Georgetown education with my favorite sport, basketball. I was blessed to have a relationship with John Thompson Jr. who instilled values in me that I will never forget. I’m ecstatic to be able to share my story with the next generation of women’s basketball players at Georgetown University!”
