Northwestern State University of Louisana

Chicago Public League Hall of Famer Luke Rogers has helped Northwestern State into the NCAA Tournament as a coach and a player. The Chicago native, who had a dynamic two-year playing career for the Demons from 2005-07, is in his 10th year as part of the full-time NSU basketball staff, serving as assistant to head coach Mike McConathy along with working as a strength and development coach.

He entered an elite group of coaches who have been part of March Madness as players when he helped the 2012-13 Demons into the NCAA Tournament. 

Rogers was a starting guard on the 2005-06 “Demons of Destiny” who won the Southland Conference regular-season and tournament titles, finishing 26-8 after an NCAA Tournament first-round win over 15th-ranked Iowa.  The Chicago native dished 8 assists and hit a pair of clutch free throws in the final minute to bring NSU within a basket and to help set the stage for the last-second 64-63 win. 

The Demons’ 2013 Southland Conference Tournament championship and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth allowed Rogers the unique status of being a rare Demons coach to have been part of NCAA second-round teams as both a Northwestern State player and coach. In Rogers’ first nine years as part of the NSU program as a player and coach, the Demons have compiled a .539 winning percentage (153-131). 

As a junior at Chicago’s Von Steuben High, he was named the Chicago Tribune Player of the Year with a 29.6 scoring average. His points dropped to 19.2 as a senior, but Von Steuben made the school’s first Chicago Public League Final Four appearance.

His standout career at Von Steuben led Rogers to be inducted into the Chicago Public League Hall of Fame in May 2015. 

After two years at Eastfield College, “Luke Juke” quickly emerged as one of the most spirited of the 2005-06 Demons, helping coin the phrase “Hoop Squad” and the chant “Bus Number 2” after the Demons’ trip to Hawaii.  He averaged 9.6 points and was runner-up in voting for the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year, starting all 34 games.  As a senior, he led NSU with 13.5 ppg in 32 games (31 starts), finishing with career totals of 750 points (11.3 ppg), 77 3-pointers (35 percent), 72 percent free throw aim (169 makes), 209 assists, 100 steals and 12 blocked shots. His performance in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons landed him on the NSU Fab 50, honoring the top 50 Demons players from 1976-2013.             

He is the son of the late Verbena Rogers and has 7 older siblings: Jake (46), Floyd (44), Lloyd (39), Denise (45), Lashal (44), Latonya (41) and Bena (38). He has three children -- sons Luke Jr. and Martell Rogers and daughter London Denise Johnson -- and has 21 nieces and nephews altogether.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in general studies in 2008.