Despite being cut during his high school basketball team tryouts, Roger Dickens defied the odds and is being inducted into Towson University's Athletic Hall of Fame for his accomplishments on the court where he earned All-American honors as a college point guard for the Tigers.

Joining Roger are Ashley Adams White (track), Shanae Baker-Brice (basketball), Christina Boarman Zajac (field hockey) and Decielia Willacy (gymnastics) in the Class of 2025 to be honored at the Hall of Fame's 61^st Annual Induction Banquet to be held October 10^th on campus in the University Union. The 2010-11 women's swimming team will also be recognized as the Team of Distinction. . (For tickets go to: https://towsonuniversity.regfox.com/towson-athletics-tiger-honors-hall-of-fame-induction-2025)

"I tried out for our basketball team but I was one of the last to get cut," says Roger, who attended Baltimore City College high school. "I loved the game and didn't want to just quit so I continued to play street ball."

While involved in a pick-up game one afternoon, Roger's play caught the eye of Community College of Baltimore head basketball coach, Jerry Phipps. "He saw me playing and asked me if I wanted to go to school at CCB," says Roger. "He encouraged me to try out for his team. I did and this time I made it."

Roger not only survived the cut but earned a starting job as CCB's point guard. He averaged 20.1 points and six assists per game in his two years at the junior college level. From 1973-75 with Roger leading the way CCB won two Maryland AA JUCO championships and a Region XX title. He was named MVP of the Region XX tournament.

With solid credentials Roger elected to attend Towson, joining Tiger mainstays and Hall of Famers, Pat McKinley and Brian Matthews, both City alums, and Pat Britton, another good friend from the neighborhood. "Brian was my childhood best friend and Pat McKinley, along with Brian, was a City schoolmate," he says. "I thought all of us together could really make some noise."

An understatement. In two years, the old neighborhood crew helped the Tigers to a combined 53-7 record that included consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Roger became the first (and currently one of four including Gary Neal 1,254, Jerrelle Benimon 1,203 and Terrance Jacobs 1,170) to score 1,000 points in just two years, finishing with 1,057 points for a 17.6 career scoring average. However, he is the only one among that group to have amassed his points prior to the three-point shot.

The 1976-77 Tigers established themselves as the most dominant team in program history. They posted a 27-3 record with the season coming to an end in a NCAA quarterfinal 85-82 loss at Sacred Heart. They had won the Mason-Dixon Conference regular season title with a perfect 10-0 record, and outscored their opponents by 12.8 points per game.

Towson's 1978 Male Athlete of the Year and two-time All Mason-Dixon Conference first team selection, Roger still holds the program's single season assist record with 152. He remains ranked among the Tigers' top 10 in career scoring average (8^th - 17.2), free throw percentage (8^th - .792), assists (9^th – 299) and steals (9^th – 155). His 10 steals in one game are still second best. The Mason-Dixon Conference Tournament MVP in 1978 and a third team Division II All-American, Roger was a 5^th round draft choice of the Washington Bullets.

"The Bullets had won the NBA championship in 1978 so when I came in, they were pretty much set and they weren't going to make many changes," Roger recalls. "There were not the opportunities back in those days after college that players have today so I had to move on."

Roger returned to CCB as an assistant coach. The following year coach Phipps retired. Roger was hired as head coach. He held the position for 25 years, becoming the school's longest tenured coach. In 2007 Roger was inducted into the CCB Hall of Fame.

From a young age Roger has been involved in his community. He founded Peace in the Streets, an initiative aimed at fostering community unity through basketball. He also launched Fifth Round Development, a program where he instills basketball fundamentals and life skills in children ages five through 12.