3-point king: Colby Rogers shoots his way into Wichita State basketball history
The new Wichita State record-holder for 3-pointers made in a season filed into his middle seat at the podium, unaware of the history he had just made.
Colby Rogers’ sole focus on Wednesday was to extend the Shockers’ season, which he helped do with a team-high 22 points to lead WSU to an 88-81 win over Rice in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
He didn’t learn about his spot on top of WSU history until he joined the postgame press conference inside the bowels of Dickies Arena.
“I didn’t know I broke the school record until you just told me,” Rogers said, flashing a grin when a reporter asked him what it meant to him.
“That’s awesome,” WSU head coach Paul Mills said, beaming with pride in the seat next to him.
After hitting five more triples on Wednesday, Rogers upped his season total to 94 3-pointers on the season, surpassing the previous record of 91 held by Sean Ogirri from the 2005-06 season.
His pace of 2.94 triples per game is right in line with Tyson Etienne’s program record of 2.95 from the 2020-21 season, while Rogers’ 41.8% accuracy beyond the arc leads the AAC for high-volume shooters.
“It feels good to be in the record books,” Rogers said after collecting his thoughts. “It’s a tribute to all of the people who helped me along the way and all of the hard work I put in. To be able to do it here at Wichita State is a blessing, especially after sitting out last year and having to wait.”
It wasn’t that long ago when Rogers was mired in an ice-cold shooting slump. Now he’s in the midst of the best heater of his career.
In his last four games, Rogers has scored 105 points (26.3 average) and drilled 23 3-pointers on 62% accuracy.
After helping develop one of the best 3-point shooters in the country — Max Abmas — during his time at Oral Roberts, Mills has seen a similar work ethic in Rogers this season.
“I’ve been blessed to be around a lot of really good players and what you realize is the most faithful win,” Mills said. “The guys that just show up every day and to Colby’s credit, Colby is in the gym. That’s how this stuff works. The people that put in the time usually showcases itself.
“So the fact that he was able to (break the record), given the prestigious, rich history at Wichita State, I’m happy for Colby because it’s a testament to his work.”
Point guard Bijan Cortes said the appeal of playing with Rogers is obvious: His shooting spaces the floor for everyone else and he’s always ready to shoot, just one pass away.
But his WSU teammates have particularly enjoyed razzing Rogers during games, a tactic that the 6-foot-4 sharpshooter has said gives him an edge.
“It’s funny because what actually gets him going more than anything is when we kind of talk trash to him,” Cortes said. “That’s when he really gets going. And it’s fun to watch when he does.”
After securing the record with his third 3-pointer just before halftime, Rogers saved his best triples for the final two minutes to carry the Shockers to victory.
The first came with WSU clinging to a two-point lead and the shot clock dwindling, as Rogers sized up a bigger defender and pulled back at the last second to launch a crucial 3 to extend WSU’s lead with 1:52 left.
On the next possession, WSU ran one of its go-to plays that sees Rogers travel from corner to corner, darting around an exit screen expertly set by Ronnie DeGray III to catch freely in the left corner and immediately going into his shooting motion to deliver the dagger.
“I work on those type of shots all the time, 5-on-0,” Rogers said. “Great screen by Ronnie and X (Bell) gave me a good pass. So just being ready to shoot and shooting it with confidence.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2024 at 7:24 PM.
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