High School Sports

RENTON — The unique name and unusual hairstyle seem appropriate for someone who prefers an unbeaten path.

And Airashay Rogers has never been one to follow the crowd.

"I've always been a weird kid," she said.

Even without her Mohawk and the 16 body piercing, Airashay Rogers would stand out on the basketball court. A four-year starter at point guard for Hazen High School of Renton, she is the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,583 points in 77 games. She surpassed Monica Nevy, another four-year standout who graduated when Rogers was in eighth grade. Nevy, now the Seattle University women's basketball team manager, amassed 1,430 points in 84 games and also played at point.

At 5 feet 7, Rogers is slightly shorter than Nevy, but more solidly built.

"She has that power and grace and vertical jump that very few kids her size have," Hazen coach Jeff Bernhardt said. "Her explosiveness from end line to end line is unmatched. ... She can blow by you or jump over you or go through you."

Or swat your shot away, even if you're bigger.

"I like blocking people," said Rogers, who has a basketball scholarship to Washington. "You don't really see many small guards blocking 6-foot posts."

She averages 3.3 blocks along with 10.0 rebounds, 6.9 steals and 3.0 assists, all while scoring at a 19.3 clip. She said she wants to be regarded as an all-around player.

"I don't want to be that one-dimensional guard," Rogers said.

Or a selfish one.

"She doesn't just worry about herself," teammate Tyra Markey said. "She makes sure everyone else gets their shots, too."

Even when she scored a school-record 44 points against Tyee this season, she handed out five assists. Sometimes, Bernhardt thinks she's almost too unselfish, which is somewhat reflected in the team's 5-8 record. But win or lose, Rogers rarely turns off her bubbly personality.

"She never has a bad day, even if she's dying inside," Bernhardt said. "She's the leader of the team, and they follow her."

With a name like Airashay, it might seem as though she was destined to play basketball like her mother, Carmen, as a high-school player in Kansas. But the christening had nothing to do with Air Jordan. It was just a name Carmen's younger "God sister" came up with.

"We had no idea she was going to be a basketball player," Carmen said.

But when older brother R.J. started playing, Airashay wanted to play, too.

"I used to always want to follow him around," she said. "Whatever he did, I wanted to do, too."

And she liked the attention it brought him.

"I remember when I was like in second grade and people were enjoying watching what he was doing, and I thought, 'I want to do that, too.' I got out there and started making shots and I really liked the way it felt, so I just stuck with it."

She credits R.J. for helping her hone her game and regularly plays against guys. That's where Bernhardt first saw her as an eighth-grader, in a pickup game with some of the Hazen boys

"She was holding her own," he said. "I was like, 'Oh, goodness, who is that?' She was the real deal."

Rogers averaged 19.2 points as a freshman, leading the Highlanders to the Class 3A state tournament for only the third time in school history and first since 1991. Her goal this year is to return there. And if she does, she'll be easy to spot, with or without a basketball — thanks to that Mohawk she let her stylist sister experiment with on her last May.

"A lot of people say the hairstyle fits me," Rogers said. "It's not a regular hairstyle."

And there is very little regular about Airashay Rogers.

Sandy Ringer: 206-718-1512 or sringer@seattletimes.com