Jimmy Rogers (born c. 1950) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He and fellow American Curtis Carter, who signed with KR, have been credited for revolutionizing the Icelandic basketball scene after they became the first foreign born professional players in the Icelandic Basketball League in 1975.

Early life

Rogers was born in Thompson, Texas and grew up in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

with seven of his other siblings.

Iceland

In September 1975, Rogers became the first foreign born professional basketball player in Iceland when he signed a three-month contract with Ármann in preparations for their games against Honka Playboys in the

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

. His first games for Ármann where during the annual Reykjavík Basketball Tournament. Ármann finished second in the tournament, behind reigning national champions ÍR, and Rogers led all players in scoring with 113 points in five games for an average of 22.6 points per game. On October 30, Rogers scored 24 points for Ármann in a disappointing 65-88 loss against the Honka Playboys in the first leg of the

. The first meeting between Rogers and Curtis Carter on December 16 was highly anticipated and did not disappoint. It was a tightly played and ended with an 86-81 victory for Ármann. But with 54 seconds remaining in the game, with the score tied at 81-81, Carter got into a fight with Rogers and knocked him down. The punch was caught on a picture and made the front page of

Dagblaðið ''Dagblaðið'' () was an Icelandic newspaper founded in 1975 by former employees of Vísir with Jónas Kristjánsson as its first editor. It marked a breakthrough in Icelandic newspaper publication as it was the first major newspaper that was inde ...

the day after, as well as the headline in Þjóðviljinn ''"Jimmy won the duel - The Truck won the boxing"''. Both players received a one-game suspension for the fight from the disciplinary court of the

Icelandic Basketball Federation The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketba ...

and where threatened with a six-game suspension for any future fights. The verdict was highly criticized, both for the short suspension and for the threat of a longer suspension that only applied to them, as referees were worried that opposing players would try to harass them and goad into a fight. In the end, Rogers and Ármann came out on the top in the league after beating KR in the last game of the season, guaranteeing them the first place and the national championship. Rogers came second in the race for the scoring title, finishing with 365 points behind Carter's 451 points. On April 1, 1976, Ármann won

Njarðvík Njarðvík () is a town in southwestern Iceland, on the peninsula of Reykjanes. As of 2009, its population was 4,400. History In 1995 it merged with the town of Keflavík and the village of Hafnir to form the new municipality of Reykjanesbær. T ...

, 98-89, in the Icelandic Cup finals behind Rogers 32 points. Rogers resigned with Ármann the following season, He was again the leading scorer during the Reykjavík Basketball Tournament with 135 points but Ármann again finished second in the standings, this time behind KR. He was granted a leave of absence from the club in middle of December, with Ármann undefeated in first place, to return to the United States due to personal reasons. In January 1977, Ármann announced that he would not return from United States and continue his career.

Titles, awards and achievements

Titles

* Icelandic champion: 1976 * Icelandic Basketball Cup: 1976

Achievements

*Reykjavík Basketball Tournament scoring champion: 1975, 1976

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Jimmy (basketball) 1950s births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Iceland American men's basketball players Jimmy Rogers Forwards (basketball) Jimmy Rogers