Rogers feels at home with Oregon State
On Tuesday, Oregon State picked a commitment from an impressive athlete at Lamar HS in Houston, Texas. Although he's flying under the radar, Kase Rogers shows very real open field ability on film and could be a dangerous weapon in the future for the Oregon State offense. The Beaver coaches feel this way as well. They made it known to Rogers and he committed to them, in part, because of how wanted he felt.
"For one, the coaches up there showed a lot of interest in me," Rogers told BeaversEdge.com shortly after announcing his commitment to Oregon State on Twitter. "They really want me to me to come up there. The receiver's coach, Jason Phillips, the person that recruited me down there, he's from Houston and I just feel a good vibe from him, and the running backs' coach, Coach (Telly) Lockette and the head coach, Coach (Gary) Andersen. We get along well. Also not only do they have good football coaches and all that but also, I was thinking about the school aspect of everything. When I went up there for the camp during the summer, they were talking about the business program and all that and how they get internships with Nike and Adidas. So not only was I thinking about football, I was also thinking about my backup plan."
His recent visit to Corvallis, Ore. also helped Oregon State land Roger's commitment. Despite holding scholarship offers from Florida Atlantic and Utah, he felt sold on Oregon State's the campus and the surrounding city.
"It was beautiful," Rogers said of his summer trip to Oregon State. "It was overcast at the time but you could tell that it was very beautiful. Nice facilities, nice stadium and the town itself, is a college town. So everything surrounds Oregon State and that's the perfect atmosphere for me."
So there shouldn't be any alarm when the 2018 prospect says he hasn't yet set an official visit to Oregon State. In fact, he says "it's coming."
Oregon State's coaches will be looking to schedule that visit soon. They'll also continue to recruit Rogers strongly and hope to lock him into a letter of intent. Oregon State sees very real potential in his ability out of the backfield, despite the fact that Rogers has mostly played receiver in high school.
That being said, Rogers is confident he'll transition to a college tailback.
"It's not going to be as much of a transition as people think," Rogers said. "That was my original position until I switched over to receiver. Playing running back and defenses at the next level will be a great challenge but I'm up for it."
Rogers also believes his role as a ball carrier could increase at Lamar HS this coming season. While he lines up in the slot, he sometimes slides into the backfield and carries the ball. He expects that to happen more often his senior season.