William & Mary’s Sugar Rodgers stresses adaptation as keys to her success on and off court

Sugar Rodgers, who won a WNBA championship and was an all-star, is gearing up for her third season as an assistant coach with the William & Mary women’s basketball team.

Prior to her eight-year professional career, she was a standout at Georgetown. The three-time Honorable Mention All-American graduated as the Hoyas’ all-time leading scorer. The Suffolk, Va., native began her coaching career at her alma mater before joining W&M.

The Tribe won 12 games in the CAA, which tied a program record, in each of her two seasons with the team.

Rodgers recently spoke with Mid-Major Madness’ Ian Sacks about her career arc and the lessons she instills in her players. Below is their conversation:

Ian Sacks: You had a legendary playing career. Now, you’re on the coaching side of it. What brought you to William & Mary?

Sugar Rodgers: A lot of things brought me here to be honest. One, big shout out to Coach [Erin Dickerson Davis]. She believed in me. She wanted me to come here and be recruiting coordinator. Obviously, this is close to home for me in the 757. I grew up an hour south of here. She was like, ‘hey, I think you’ll be a good recruiting coordinator.’

At that time, I thought it was not for me. But she was like, ‘no, you would be a great recruiting coordinator. You’re a people person. You like to get to know people, and people want to get to know you.’

Once I came here, I saw what they had for the future and how much they were going to pour into the women’s program. It was something that I wanted to be a part of, and it’s a great fit for me.

IS: Before coming to William & Mary, you were back to your alma mater, Georgetown. How much of a difficult decision was that to leave a place that you know so well and had so much success?

SR: To be honest, it was difficult because it’s my alma mater, right? You have a different type of passion for your alma mater.

I think it was best for my career that I left. I didn’t necessarily agree with everything that was transpiring when I was there. So, it was best for me to go in a different direction.

I’m appreciative for the opportunity. I believe that I learned a lot about this business, but I’ve got to be thankful and grateful that I did have the opportunity to start my coaching career at my alma mater.

IS: I’m sure that certainly eased your transition from your playing days to the coaching side. When did you start to think that coaching might be a potential career path for you?

SR: I would…