THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 25, 1994 TAG: 9408250745
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
All-Tidewater forward Marvin Rodgers will be academically ineligible to play basketball for Churchland this semester and may transfer to a prep school.
The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Rodgers, who helped Churchland win the Eastern Region championship this past spring and is considered one of the top power-forward college prospects in the country, fell victim to the Portsmouth School Board's new minimum grade-point requirement for participating in extracurricular activities. Beginning with the 1994-95 school year, students must have at least a 1.3 grade-point average to be eligible.
``I passed all my classes, but my grades are low,'' Rodgers said.
Rodgers, 17, tried to beef up his grades by attending summer school but still missed the cutoff.
``I messed around my freshman and sophomore years, and that's what hurt me,'' he said. ``It just shows you can get all the (recruiting) mail in the world, but if you don't get the grades. . . .''
Virginia High School League rules mandate that an athlete pass at least five classes the previous semester to be eligible for sports. Rodgers says he passed six, which means he would be able to play if he lived in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake or Norfolk.
Rodgers said he hasn't decided on his next move, but he dismissed rumors he would enroll at Indian River, where he would be teamed with heralded Braves freshman Jason Capel.
``People must have seen the two of us together and thought there was something going on,'' Rodgers said. ``I like (Jason). We're tight. But I'm not going to Indian River.
``Right now, I'm just going to lay low and enjoy the last two weeks of my summer vacation. But if I don't go to Churchland, I'll probably go to a prep school like Oak Hill (Academy). I wouldn't be the first person to go the prep route, and I won't be the last.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Marvin Rodgers
by CNB