AURORA | Michael Rogers has a summer unlike any other he’s had in quite some time ahead in a couple of months.
For three decades, summer has meant extensive preparation to coach the upcoming boys prep basketball season, but that’s not the case this year as Rogers has officially stepped down from his post at Grandview High School after a decade.
Rogers led the Wolves to the then-Class 5A state championship in the 2017-18 season and posted a 132-92 mark in nine official seasons, while assistant coach Ryan Turk took over for him during the 2020-21 season.
“I guess this will be my first summer in 30 years that I’ll actually have a summer,” Rogers told the Sentinel. “I’ve been around the game of basketball my whole life and it’s afforded me many things. I don’t know if I would be sitting here in the position I’m at without basketball. The job and the friendships I’ve made have been very memorable.”
Rogers said he plans to continue to coach freshman football at Grandview, but that he is done with basketball, at least for now. He has found his old school approach less effective in recent years, but still loves the game.
“Am I done forever?,” he said. “I can’t say that. Right now, I just need a rest.”
The Grandview job is currently listed on the Cherry Creek Schools website (here).
Rogers hopes that Turk — who coached the team to a 3-11 record in an abbreviated 2020-21 season — will end up as the one to take over the program. Turk, a former standout player in his prep days at Smoky Hill, is more than qualified in Rogers’ mind.
“I would love to see Ryan get his opportunity,” Rogers said. “He’s ready, I’ve shown him the ropes behind the scenes and a lot of people don’t know how much work he has put in. Going back to the state championship game, there were four minutes left and I was turning the huddle over to him a few times down the stretch.
“He has plenty of knowledge of the game and he can bring his own unique energy and voice to it.”
Whoever is hired will become the third head coach since Grandview opened in 1998, following original coach Gary Childress — who went 216-165 in 16 seasons with the program and went to three Final Fours — and Rogers, who had a winning record in six of his nine full seasons with seven postseason appearances.
In a four-season span between 2016 and 2020, Grandview had a sparkling 84-22 record and won a championship in 2017-18 when it defeated George Washington — a program Rogers coached with for a three-season span and also took to a state championship game in 2009 — 57-52 at the Denver Coliseum.
That championship team featured a dynamic frontcourt player in Dayne Prim, a big guard in senior Ben Boone, a good distributor in point guard Davon Walker, a versatile contributor in Gunner Gentry, emerging sophomores in Caleb McGill and Lian Ramiro and others such as Levi Dombro and Tyler Unger who did what the team needed to succeed, even if it didn’t always show up in the box score.
“We weren’t the most talented team in the state, but we were the best team as far as the pieces,” Rogers said. “Everybody knew their roles and there was no complaining. The kids would police themselves and mostly I just had to deal with the strategy.”
The Wolves might have had more titles in that span, but they had a semifinal run stopped by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic just before they were to take on undefeated Rangeview, while they were knocked out in the Great 8 in 2016-17 and 2018-19.
The 16-17 season — which saw the LeChaun Duhart and Gaige Prim set the tone for the program and its future success in the era — ended on a controversial buzzer-beating 42-40 loss to Rock Canyon, while Grandview lost to Rangeview by 10 points in the same round in 18-19 with McGill out due to injury.
“We had a good four-year run at the Coliseum, but if just a couple of other things happened, it could have really been dominant,” Rogers said.
Rogers believed the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the continuity of the program as far as experienced players instilling expectations in those coming up from the lower levels and it led to two sub-.500 seasons in the last three.
A 14-10 mark in the 2022-23 seemed like the start of something, but impactful freshman twins Gallagher and Gavin Placide departed for a prep academy in Utah.
Rogers noted that Grandview had a particularly difficult schedule in the 2023-24 season, though it included signature wins over 6A semifinalist Smoky Hill (60-54) and Regis Jesuit (51-50 in overtime). The Wolves — who graduate Alex Riddick, an All-Centennial League first team selection — also lost four games by five points or less.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Rogers said.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
MICHAEL ROGERS’ COACHING RECORD AT GRANDVIEW
2023-24: 6-17 overall (2-5 in Centennial League/missed Class 6A state playoffs); 2022-23: 14-10 overall (6-1 in Centennial League/lost in 1st round of 6A state playoffs); 2021-22: 5-17 overall (3-10 in Centennial League/missed 5A state playoffs); 2020-21: Did not coach; 2019-20: 20-6 overall (11-3 in Centennial League/made 5A semifinals, season suspended because of coronavirus); 2018-19: 19-7 overall (12-2 in Centennial League/lost in Great 8 round of 5A state championship); 2017-18: 24-4 overall (11-3 in Centennial League/won 5A state championship); 2016-17: 21-5 overall (10-4 in Centennial League/lost in Great 8 round of 5A state playoffs); 2015-16: 13-11 overall (7-7 in Centennial League/lost in 2nd round of 5A state playoffs); 2014-15: 10-15 overall (4-10 in Centennial League/lost in 2nd round of 5A state playoffs). Totals: 132-92 (66-45 in Centennial League)
