Sugar Rodgers

Ta'Shauna "Sugar" Rodgers (born December 8, 1989) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Rodgers played collegiately for the Georgetown Hoyas. A prolific three-point shooter, Rodgers was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in part to fill the void created by the trade of Candice Wiggins.

At Georgetown, she was the school's all-time scoring leader, with 2,518 points, and the team's all-time steals leader, with 326, as well as holding the team record for 3-point field goals made. She was a four-time All Big East First Team pick, and was drafted by the Lynx in the second round as the 14th overall pick.

Early life Rodgers was born in Suffolk, Virginia to Barbara Mae Rodgers and Oscar Allen Saunders Jr. in 1989. Rodgers played basketball for her high school team at King's Fork High School, where she became the school's MVP all four years, conference Player of the Year three times, as well as a McDonald's All-American. She was named a Parade All-American in 2009. She graduated with her school's records in career points, assists, rebounds and blocks. At the 2007 AAU Nike Nationals, Sugar didn't start, but played in every game as for the Suffolk Blazers, and was named the tournament's MVP. Sugar's mother, who had played basketball herself at Booker T. Washington High School, died in 2005 from lupus, and her father died in July 2012. as well as First Team All-Big East, a feat she repeated all four years. and helping the team to just its second NCAA Tournament invitation. In her sophomore year, she led the team to the NCAA's Sweet Sixteen with an upset win over rival Maryland, before losing to UConn.

In her four years, she amassed 2,518 points to become the leading scorer all-time at Georgetown on either the men's or women's team. She was a three-time AP Honorable Mention All-American, and majored in English.

Professional Rodgers was selected 2nd in the 2nd round of the 2013 WNBA draft as the 14th overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx. She made the team out of training camp, and made her professional debut on June 1, 2013, in a victory over the Connecticut Sun. Rodgers has logged the most minutes of the three rookies on the team, earning playing time thanks to aggressive defense and hustle.

During the WNBA off season, Rodgers joined the Arras team in France. She was traded to the New York Liberty prior to the 2014 season. In the WNBA, she averages 18.8 minutes per game, 35.7% three-point field goals, and 7.8 PPG.

On April 11, 2019, Rodgers was traded to the Las Vegas Aces as part of a four-way deal that saw Rodgers head to Las Vegas in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft, which in turn was traded to the Atlanta Dream for guard Nia Coffey. Also involved in that trade was the acquisition of Tanisha Wright from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for a second round pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft.

Coaching Las Vegas Aces After her retirement following the 2020 WNBA season, Rodgers was hired by the Las Vegas Aces as an assistant coach.

Georgetown Rodgers returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach in 2021.

William & Mary In June 2022, Rodgers was hired as an assistant on Erin Dickerson Davis' staff at William & Mary.

During her time in Williamsburg, Rodgers primarily worked with the program's guards. She helped coach William & Mary to their first-ever CAA Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in 2025.

Golden State Valkyries On March 27, 2025, it was announced that Rodgers was hired as an assistant coach for the expansion Golden State Valkyries' inaugural season.

Statistics

Georgetown Source

WNBA

†Denotes seasons in which Rogers won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life Rodgers is an ambassador for Up2Us Sports, a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underserved youth by providing them with coaches trained in positive youth development.