Stephen Rodgers joined Tevon Saddler's inaugural coaching staff after a brief stint at Utah Valley.
During the 2022-2023 season, Rodgers assisted Utah Valley to a 28-9 record and 15-3 record in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The 28 overall wins broke a school record for the most wins in the Division I history of the university and the 15 wins in conference were good for an outright regular season title in the WAC. Helped by the 30th-ranked overall defense, Utah Valley made a run in the NIT and reached the Final 4 in the postseason. The stellar Wolverine defense ranked third in the country in block percentage (14.8%) and two-point percentage defense (42.9), fourth in effective field goal percentage defense (44.0%), and 28th in three-point percentage defense (30.8%).
Prior to being at Utah Valley, Rodgers spent the 2021-22 season being an assistant coach at Newberry College, where he helped the program to a 15-13 overall record and 14-10 conference record in the South Atlantic Conference. The Wolves ranked 37th nationally in three-point FG defense at 31.4%, 55th in the country in scoring defense allowing 67.9 points per game, and 57th in fewest turnovers with 11.4 per game. Rodgers worked with the post players where Newberry was 48th in the country in offensive rebounds with 11.96 per game. The Wolves reaching the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament was the furthest the program had reached since the 2015-2016 season. Newberry obtained their second only Top 10 victory in school history against No. 9 Queens University during the 2021-22 season.
In the previous 2020-21 campaign, Rodgers played an essential role in helping the Florida State Seminoles be the top three-point shooting team in the ACC (37.6%) which was good for 21st in the country. Rodgers also worked alongside one of the nation's top post-player developers in the country, coach Stan Jones. Defensively, the Seminoles ranked 12th in both block percentage and opponent two-point field goal percentage. They were also 24th in opponent-effective field goal percentage and 33rd in defensive efficiency. The Seminoles finished with an 18-7 overall record, which included an appearance in the Sweet 16 and a final ranking of No. 14 in the AP Poll.
Before heading to Tallahassee, Florida, Rodgers spent one season on staff at Missouri Baptist University (2019-2020) alongside head coach Preston Ingram helping lead them to a 15-14 overall record clinching an AMC conference tournament berth. During his season with Missouri Baptist, the Spartans ranked 21st in the country in defensive three-point field goal percentage and 28th in scoring defense per game.
Rodgers spent one season in the high school ranks as an assistant at the Hammond School (2018-2019) in Columbia, SC helping lead them to a 3A SCISA state runner-up. He spent three years as the Director of Scouting at Big Shots.
A native of Columbia, S.C., he played for the legendary coach Tim Whipple at Irmo High School. He is a graduate of Coastal Carolina University with a degree in psychology and a minor in sociology. He graduated with his Master's in Sports Management from Florida State in July of 2021.
