Rogers, Gibson sign with Gold Rush for 2012-13 season

XAVIER ROGERS

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier Rogers of Denton, Texas, and John Gibson of Marietta, Ga., have signed men's basketball scholarships with Xavier University of Louisiana. The Gold Rush have signed three for the 2012-13 academic year.

Rogers, a 6-foot-2 guard, will have two seasons of eligibility at Xavier after transferring from NCAA Division I member Grambling State University. Rogers averaged 8.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 25 games with the Tigers in 2011-12. He made 39 3-pointers — six against Alabama State on March 1, five against Texas Tech on Dec. 18 — and was Grambling's second-leading scorer for the season. Rogers averaged 2.3 points in 13 games for Lee College, a two-year school in Baytown, Texas, as a freshman in 2010-11.

Rogers was a three-year varsity starter for Lake Dallas High School of Corinth, Texas, and was first-team all-district his final two seasons. As a senior he made the Denton Record-Chronicle All-Area third-team after averaging 11.4 points and making 52 3-pointers.

Gibson, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged 9.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots as a senior in 2011-12 — his first season as a varsity starter — at Walton High School. His single-game highs included 19 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks.

"John is an extremely hard-working kid," Walton coach Joseph Goydish said. "He is dedicated to constantly improving his game. He is a great teammate and a great student."

Gibson will major in business management at Xavier, and Rogers will be a pre-pharmacy major.

Guard RJ Daniels of New Orleans signed with the Gold Rush in November. Daniels helped St. Augustine finish second in the Class 4A state playoffs this year.

Xavier was 23-9 this past season, shared the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship, qualified for the second straight year for the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship and ranked 24th in the postseason coaches poll.

2012-13 Xavier men's basketball signees

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr.* Hometown High School (College)

RJ Daniels G 6-4 190 Fr. New Orleans, La. St. Augustine

John Gibson F 6-7 195 Fr. Marietta, Ga. Walton

Xavier Rogers G 6-2 175 Jr. Denton, Texas Lake Dallas (Grambling)

* athletic classification at Xavier in fall of 2012

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

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