Rogowski rolled up the points at Hersey
Editors note: The Daily Herald is counting down the Top Ten boys and girls basketball players of the century in our coverage area. We continue today with No. 9 — Nick Fruendt of Batavia and Megan Rogowski of Hersey.
As an Illinois high school standout guard, Megan Rogowski played for one of the state's top coaches in Hersey Hall of Famer Mary Fendley.
As a Division I collegiate guard, she played for one of the nation's elite coaches in DePaul's Doug Bruno.
As a junior for both mentors, she enjoyed her most memorable moments.
It was 2010 when Rogowski and Hersey made its only appearance in the IHSA Class 4A state finals and the 5-foot-9 sharpshooter led the Huskies to fourth place at Illinois State's Redbird Arena.
“Without a doubt, that whole experience and whole season when we went downstate was the highlight of my career at Hersey,” Rogowski said.
Four years later, in her third season with the Blue Demons, Rogowski was part of DePaul's big postseason run in the 2014 NCAA women's tournament.
“The highlight at DePaul was definitely when we defeated Duke at Cameron Indoor stadium to go to the Sweet Sixteen,” said Rogowski, who set a DePaul single-season record for 3-pointers (114) that season.
While she closed out her spectacular high school career with a strong senior year and school-record 2,365 career points, her final season at DePaul was not quite as colorful.
“It ended with a knee injury,” said Rogowski, who shot a personal best 35 when she was on the Hersey girls golf team. “I'm still battling with that unfortunately, trying to get it back to normal. I have not played a competitive basketball game since that day — January 2 at Villanova. I'll never forget it.”
Area fans will never forget Rogowski and her four-year career for Fendley.
Probably the best 3-point shooter Fendley has coached, Rogowski scored 346 points (32 3-pointers) as a freshman, 579 (74 3s) as a sophomore, 733 (76 3s) as a junior and 707 (89 3s) as a senior.
“She was just such a complete player and willing to do whatever it took to drive us to success,” Fendley said. “That included getting her teammates involved, hitting shots when we needed her to and being our primary ballhandler when we needed her to.”
Today, Rogowski works in sales for Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America of the BreakThru Beverage Co. She and her fiancee Alex Lee are planning a wedding for August of 2021.