MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - All eyes were on Marysville senior guard Sophia Rogers as friends and family gathered in the Marysville gym on Wednesday, March 15, as Rogers signed her national Letter of Intent (LOI) to play for Millikin University.

Rogers played her entire basketball career for the Lady Indians at the varsity level except the 2020-2021 season where Marysville didn’t have any scheduled games.

Rogers expressed to the Dispatch the reason she chose to sign with Millikin was due to the atmosphere and style of the “Big Blue” play.

“They play the way I like to play and that’s fast and up close-up defense,” Rogers said.

When Rogers signed her LOI, she had her father, Gary, mother Penny, Lady Indians head coach Ike Prince and athletic director Bill Rollins table side.

Gary told the Dispatch that when they visited Millikin back in December, he felt that is where she wanted to go following the visit.

Millikin is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III University that plays in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The “Big Blue” are coached by Olivia Lett.

Lett has been the head coach at Millikin since March of 2018. Sophia told the Dispatch she wants to contribute to the team in whatever is needed such as a goal of Lett’s to get to the NCAA Division III Final Four.

Lady Indians head coach Ike Prince told the Dispatch he is happy to see Sophia move onto the next level and knows she is going to put in the hard work to be successful.

“She did all the work in the classroom, the community and the court,” Prince said.

Prince added that he is proud of Sophia and it’s just the beginning with a new journey where there will be bigger and better things ahead.

Sophia’s statistical numbers improved year-by-year throughout her time at Marysville. Her defensive numbers jump out as she finished tied for 13th nationally this season in steals as she averaged eight per game. 

Her career stats at Marysville included 86 games played, averaged 8.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 5.6 steals. Sophia is more than a stat line; she exemplified her role as a leader on this Lady Indians squad.

Prince said being a point guard in his system is not easy as he played the position in his competitive time and the biggest progression he saw from Sophia was being able to accept coaching moments.

“I told her (Sophia) as a freshman that I’m going to be your biggest supporter, but also your biggest critic,” Prince said. He added that Sophia is not a vocal leader but leads by example by always being in the right spot and making the correct play.

Gary said that one of the hardest things for him to get used to is not going to be in the stands watching live every game, but he is going to be all set up with streams of the games.

He added that with Sophia’s older brother Demetri being away at college, the transition will just be a quieter household.

“It’s going to be super quiet and we’re going to have to take care of all of the animals,” Gary said. “That’s what it’s all about, we want our kids to spread their wings and fly, we (Gary and Penny) are excited about Sophia going out there.”

Sophia added that Millikin offers the family environment she experienced at Marysville and when she attends the “Big Blue” family this fall, she plans to study psychology as her major.