THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605170661
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Former All-Tidewater basketball player Marvin Rodgers has pleaded innocent to charges that he sexually abused a female student in a West Virginia University dorm room.
Rodgers entered the plea Wednesday at a hearing in Morgantown, W.Va. He was released on a $5,000 bond and will go on trial Aug. 5.
Rodgers, from Churchland High, is enrolled at West Virginia but did not play this year because he was academically ineligible. He is accused of attacking the girl Dec. 6. He was arrested Jan. 18 and indicted last week.
The 6-foot-9 Rodgers was one of the most heavily recruited players in the state last year, despite missing all but 10 games because of academic difficulties. Rodgers failed to attain the 1.3 grade-point average necessary to play in Portsmouth and was forced to sit out the first semester.
Rodgers also missed parts of his freshman and sophomore seasons, but shined in summer camps and AAU tournaments, and was considered one of the nation's top 50 seniors last year.
After becoming eligible again last season, Rodgers credited his family and his strong religious faith for helping him turn things around. But a few months later, in July, he was dismissed from a high school all-star team for disciplinary reasons.
``Marvin's not a bad kid,'' said Boo Williams, his former AAU coach. ``He's just a kid like anybody else who needs direction sometimes.''
West Virginia coach Gale Catlett said he believed Rodgers when the player said he was innocent of the charges. Catlett was out of town and unavailable for comment Thursday, a spokesman said.
Rodgers and his attorney, Ronald Tucker of Fairmont, W.Va., could also not be reached for comment. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Marvin Rodgers will be tried in August for the alleged Dec. 6
attack.
by CNB