James T. "Buddy" Rogers

For those of you who don't know, Coach Buddy Rogers was going to attend our reunion Saturday night.  He never showed, and we didn't find out till later that night why.  Here is the story:

Posted on Mon, Sep. 26, 2005 TERRY MASSEY SPORTS COLUMNIST

The Grand Strand sports scene suffered a major loss over the weekend with the death of longtime high school sports coach James "Buddy" Rogers.

Rogers died of a massive heart attack Saturday at his Myrtle Beach home. He was 64.

Rogers spent more than half his life as a coach and teacher in the Myrtle Beach area, most recently as boys basketball coach and boys and girls tennis coach at his alma mater, Myrtle Beach High, where he was a three-sports star in the 1950s.

After attending Marshall University on a basketball scholarship, earning his graduate degree at the West Virginia school and serving a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, Rogers returned to the Grand Strand's sports courts and fields to help local children earn the same opportunities through athletics.

"He had a passion for sports, mostly basketball, but he was willing to coach anything and everything they asked him to," said nephew and former player Wayne Gray. "But more importantly, he had a passion for teaching and coaching kids."

Rogers spent one season as football and basketball coach at MBHS (1968-69), seven seasons as basketball coach at the defunct Coastal Academy (1973-79) and six seasons as girls softball, boys soccer and assistant boys basketball coach at Socastee High (1980-85) before returning to MBHS.

"Basketball in the area will really miss him. He lived and breathed it," said Phoenix Suns assistant coach Dan D'Antoni, who had Rogers as an assistant at Socastee High. "He was a gym rat. He would play a pick-up game anytime, anywhere. Buddy was a true competitor."

In fact, Rogers played a role in importing coaches from Marshall, such as D'Antoni and Tom Langfitt. They followed him to Myrtle Beach in the 1970s and made a career here.

"Buddy was all about the kids and he went above and beyond what a coach should do," said Langfitt, a former coach and athletics director at MBHS. "He took money out of his own pocket to pay for tennis shoes when kids couldn't afford them.

"He was big on going to the games and taking pictures, blowing them up and taking them to the kids. They loved it. He really cared about them."

Rogers won eight state championships during his 33-year coaching tenure, seven with the state-power MBHS tennis teams and, his proudest accomplishment, the 2001-02 boys basketball state title.

"He was like a father to me," said 2002 MBHS graduate and University of Nevada sophomore guard Ramon Sessions. "He was the biggest influence on me. Without coach Rogers, I don't know where I would be, but I know wouldn't be here.

"He brought me up to JV when I was in the eighth grade and he was with me the whole way. He used to open the gym up for us to play, even on Christmas Day, he would be there scraping gum up off the floor. Our team was like a family and it made him so proud when we won the state championship."

Sessions' uncle, Charles Goings, served as a manager for Rogers in the early '90s. He echoed Sessions' sentiments about Rogers being both a coach and father figure to his players.

"He was like a father to all of us," Goings said. "He was the only one who would come into the black neighborhoods and check on us. A lot of coaches didn't give a crap about us, but we knew that he really cared."

In addition to coaching, Rogers played a major role in assisting D'Antoni with the Beach Ball Classic, an annual holiday high school tournament that ranks among the best in the nation. He also helped jump-start area soccer programs when he formed the first squad at Socastee High in 1983 and led the team to the state title game.

"I think it planted a seed," Rogers said last May. "Soon after, soccer programs sprouted up all around here."

In 2002, after Rogers became just the fourth coach in S.C. history to win three state titles in a single season, he deflected credit to the kids, parents and coaches who made his job easy. Of MBHS's tennis dynasty, he joked, "I just drive the bus."

"What it means is that I've been very lucky to be involved with some really good athletes," he said. "When you're involved with a team that wins the state [title], that's the ultimate. ... It's so satisfying to see a team of young boys or girls win it all. The memories last a lifetime."

And so will the memories of Rogers for those who knew him, played for him and loved him.

"He fulfilled his dreams by being a head coach and he helped a lot of kids," Langfitt said. "What a great guy. He was really special to all of us."

Rogers is survived by his wife, Pet Rogers, who requests that memorials be made to the Buddy Rogers Scholarship Fund, c/o Bill Langfitt at Horry County State Bank. Arrangements were being made at McMillan-Small Funeral Home.

Rogers' death a major loss for local sports