JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman men's basketball alum Josh Rogers has become the third Eagle in the last three years to continue his basketball career professionally.
The Bristol, United Kingdom-native has signed a contract with Hapoel Beer Sheva of Israel's Second League. Rogers joins Ish Sanders (Australia) and Antoine Davis (Germany) as current Eagles playing professionally outside the States.
"I'm very excited to get the opportunity to play professional basketball with Beer Sheva," Rogers said. "I feel like Carson-Newman has prepared me fully for the experience, both from receiving great coaching from CB (Chuck Benson), C Will (Shane Williams) and Ray (Likely), and playing with some inspiring teammates in my 4 years at C-N. I want to say a big thank you to all my coaches, teammates, students, faculty and fans for making me feel at home every day I was at C-N"
Rogers becomes the sixth Eagle, including Sanders and Davis, to get a job in the world of basketball. From the 2013 class, Collin Crane is the strength coach for the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga's men's hoops team. Then, from 2014's graduating class, Kevin Leatherwood (Hampden-Sydney) and Ray Likely (Carson-Newman) have both entered the collegiate coaching ranks.
Rogers finished his C-N career with 688 points and 518 rebounds. He started all 28 games of his senior season and finished the year shooting 60.2 percent from the field.
The 6-8 wingman's best game came in his junior year when he scored a career high 19 points in the NCAA tournament against No. 23 Montevallo. He tallied his top mark for boards against Clayton State as a junior when he ripped down 13.
Through his Carson-Newman career, the Eagles were 24-9 when Rogers hit double digits scoring. C-N was 39-13 when he had at least five rebounds.
Rogers had 10 double-doubles in his college career, including five in his final go-around in the Orange and Blue.
Beer Sheeva finished last year with an 18-8 record and a third place finish in its league.
