NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- Chris Paul's CP3 grassroots basketball club takes the floor, featuring Class of 2016 No. 1 overall recruit Harry Giles. Coaches from some of the sport's glitterati programs line the gym walls, awaiting and still recruiting the undecided Giles. As Team CP3 gets ready for yet another AAU game in yet another AAU gym on yet another roasting July AAU afternoon, you can't help but notice him. It's this one player in particular. His presence stands out immediately above -- well, below -- all others.
No, not Giles, the muscularly lean freak of a big man who's almost certainly going be a lottery pick come the 2017 NBA Draft. Instead, it's a pint-sized point guard named Darnell Rogers who turns heads and commands attention -- arguably more attention, and certainly more curiosity, than Giles or even Paul, who's also in the gym.
Rogers, 18, is the shortest Division I prospect I've ever seen, and although he tells me he's 5-foot-2, he might only be hitting that height thanks to his in vogue poofy-mane mohawk hairdo that seemingly 40 percent of prep players are donning these days. It is startling to see him strut onto the floor and witness up close how much shorter he is than everyone else. Some coaches around me swear he can't be taller than 5 feet flat. But they soon realize the pedigree and reason he's on the floor to begin with: Rogers is the son of George Washington University great Shawnta Rogers, the 5-5 point guard and 1999 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year who went on to play pro ball overseas for more than a decade.
Shawnta is on hand here at the Peach Jam to watch his son induce onlookers into curious fingerpoints, followed by whoas, oohs and ahhs once the games get underway. In his son he sees himself, and Darnell's role is one he's all too familiar with.
It's without question that Darnell Rogers is worth not only a roster spot, but the occasional starting role on Paul's premier AAU team. Rogers joined CP3 in the spring of 2014 after his tryout effort lingered with and left the team coaches impressed enough that they initially declined him a spot but then went back on that and invited him onto the squad midway through the spring circuit.
Rogers has had Paul's respect and admiration pretty much from day one.
"I'm probably one of his biggest fans," Paul told CBSSports.com. "I'm not as undersized as he is, but I'm one of the biggest believers that it's all about your heart, not your size. I brag about him to my teammates all the time."
In fact, earlier this week, in the most surreal NBA free agency saga of the modern era, as Paul and his LA Clippers teammates converged and surrounded DeAndre Jordan at his house in Houston, Paul took new teammate Paul Pierce aside and brought up clips of Rogers on his phone. (They did this as they killed time, awaiting midnight, when Jordan could sign his new deal to return the Clippers. Kind of amazing, right?)
Rogers is rabbit-quick, has a reliable handle, is vocal on the floor, and through one year with CP3's program has commanded respect of his teammates. He also does things like this regularly. Get a sense of how unafraid and fast his game can be. That shot's good from beyond NBA range:
Rogers also constantly plays with aggression, trash-talk gusto and in-your-face defense. It's a sight to see, and I've been sitting with myriad coaches this week who've gotten a chance to watch him and be surprised.
"I wonder what his deal is," one coach said before CP3's game on Friday afternoon against Team Final, as Rogers was rolling up his shorts three or four times over to get them above knee-height; the wardrobe adjustment causes the tag in the back to stick out. Within a few minutes, coaches from major schools sitting around me clearly see how he's worth consideration at the lower level of D-I, and that alone is impressive.
Rogers has offers from Towson, Maryland-Eastern Shore and George Washington, but schools like Bowling Green and Richmond -- among others -- have also at least been intrigued enough to look into him this month. Wherever he ends up, he'll be a magnet for attention from fans and media. He's more than a novelty, and he's got confidence that can match up with just about anyone here playing at the Peach Jam.
Rogers, who's full name is Shawnta Darnell Rogers, Jr., grew up away from his father some of the time, as Shawnta's career consisted of stints throughout Europe. Darnell's grandmother would take him to local basketball parks in East Baltimore, and by 3 years old he was able to handle a ball with ease and sink shots on 10-foot rims. Eventually, Rogers played his way to respectability by going up against older kids -- his older brother played at Delaware -- and that led him to have the confidence to compete with basically anyone.
"Going into the games people underestimate me, but after the game they've gotta respect me because what I do on the court," Rogers said. "I keep proving people wrong everyday. ... I really can score, I can pass, I strap up."
Yep. At the high school level, Rogers is the captain of his Indian Land (Fort Mill, S.C.) High School team, where he's scored nearly 1,000 points and averaged 27.4 points, 5.0 assists and 4.2 steals through the past two seasons.
And as for strapping up his defense, he gets angry if anyone manages to put up more than 10 points on him, but adds, "That's rare. Because I'm small, I've got to (pride) myself on my defense. I can't let anyone do anything on me."
It's a great dynamic and fun feature of this CP3 team to have a combo like Rogers and Giles. The tall-and-small attack makes for a fun watch and a jerky kind of counterattack that most teams can't stop consistently.
"Harry's one of the best teammates I ever had," Rogers said. "He's encouraging. Not only does he help us out, but he's vocal on the court. Harry's special. He's a special player." "
When you've got someone like Paul championing your ability and style, it only increases your credibility. Some coaches do think he's nowhere near ready to play at a mid-major type of school, but Paul sees it differently.
"I'll put him up against anybody," Paul said. "He doesn't see height when he's on the court. The biggest thing is he plays with a chip on his shoulder."
Rogers has no real timeline on a college choice. He said his two biggest factors in choosing will be playing time and teammate dynamic -- how players will receive and react to him. Rogers has spent his whole life changing minds and giving people something they've never seen. It'll have to be more of the same when he gets to college.
He's a year away from that, but if the trajectory keeps, chances are this won't be the only time you'll get to know, and see, college basketball's smallest biggest prospect.