FAYETTEVILLE-MANLIUS SCHOOLS – Fayetteville-Manlius graduate Brandon Rogers was named a recipient of the NCAA’s prestigious Elite 90 Award last month after his college squad won the national championship in Division III men’s volleyball.
Now finished with his sophomore year at Stevens Institute of Technology, Rogers and his fellow Ducks knocked off North Central College to secure the victory in the Sunday, April 30 title game. The national championship was his school’s second in volleyball, with the first notched in 2015.
The Elite 90 Award goes to the actively participating collegiate athlete with the highest cumulative undergraduate grade point average out of those nominated from each of the Final Four teams. According to NCAA.com, the award “recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his of her peers.”
Awarded to players at the finals sites for the 90 NCAA-sanctioned sports, hence its title, the Elite 90 recognition was earned by only seven previous student-athletes in Stevens’ history.
The Manlius native is also the fourth men’s volleyball player to win the award while representing the New Jersey institute, joining two-time winner Alexander Carpenter, 2018 recipient Nick Sunderland and 2019 winner Andrew Amerman. Rogers is also the first of the four Stevens players to be bestowed with the Elite 90 Award after the university switched over to the Middle Atlantic Conference from Empire 8.
“It was really cool to (a) get that award but then (b) keep in mind too that it took our team the whole year to get to that point,” Rogers said. “It was neat to be able to kind of share that with the team’s success.”
Coached by Dan Buehring, the team had gone to the Final Four the year prior and lost in the semifinals, but this season, they “lived and played in the moment” en route to hoisting the winner’s trophy.
“It’s taking everything one game at a time and focusing on the little things you can optimize and control,” said Rogers, who plays the opposite hitter position.
On the court this spring, Rogers recorded 24 kills on 64 swings and tallied up three aces, seven blocks and 13 digs over 17 matches. He said he practices his sport of choice about two hours a day every day but Sunday to get better however he can, whether he’s on hardwood, grass or sand.
Off the volleyball court, he keeps his grades up and has managed to achieve a 4.0 cumulative GPA majoring in mechanical engineering, a discipline he was drawn to pursue because he takes after his engineer father and because he always enjoyed building and taking apart such contraptions as remote control cars and drones.
“I was pretty locked in with doing that from the start,” Rogers said. “I always liked STEM, and F-M offered electives in engineering.”
He added that his high school experience prepared him with the time management skills necessary to excel in volleyball while retaining a strong standing academically. It helps, however, that some of his best friends are his teammates, so the practices and games day to day and month to month have satisfied the needs of his social life as well.
As Rogers’ coach, Buehring said he can’t think of a more deserving candidate for the Elite 90 Award, referring to him as someone who demonstrates his team’s values.
“Brandon’s work ethic, commitment to his academics, personal growth and our team’s goals is exceptional,” Buehring said. “This honor is reflective of not just his brilliance and character, but also our team’s commitment and culture around excellence in all that we do.”
Before graduating in 2021, Rogers was the F-M boys scholar-athlete of the year and the captain of his varsity team his senior year of high school under head coach Chris Gangloff. From the time he was a libero on the junior varsity level, Rogers developed friendships through volleyball within his school district and by belonging to Club SyrV and Syracuse Volleyball Club locally.
“Playing on all the teams I’ve played on helped to build my interest in the game, but F-M definitely helped breed my interest in volleyball,” Rogers said.
His dad, Paul Rogers, said he’s seen his son improve noticeably over time as a player.
“He started playing on the JV team in eighth grade, and his skills have just gotten better and better over the years,” said Paul Rogers, a Manlius resident.
He continued by saying that Brandon has put forth a great deal of effort to get to where he is.
“He’s had a perfect 4.0 through two years of studying mechanical engineering at one of the top engineering schools in the country, and then to maintain that while still being on the national championship-winning volleyball team is a lot of hard work and focus on his part,” his dad said.
Brandon Rogers was presented with the Elite 90 Award during a banquet hosted by Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Maryland, where the championship game was held.