jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM -- Hometown heroes Rodney Rogers and David Garrard will be honored Thursday in between play during the S.J.G. Greater N.C. Pro-Am summer basketball league at N.C. Central University, spokesman Erroll Reese said.
The free summer-league games take place Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m. in N.C. Central University's McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium.
The games are scheduled until Aug. 8.
Rogers, who dazzled crowds at Hillside High School before going to Wake Forest University and then to the NBA, was paralyzed during a dirt-bike accident in 2008.
But NBA veteran Jerry Stackhouse, the NBA host of the summer league, said Rogers has refused to give up on life.
Garrard, who slung the football at Southern High School and East Carolina University, heaves the pigskin for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.
And he is a strong advocate in the fight against Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder that causes swelling of the digestive tract and can make the intestines empty frequently.
The quarterback had surgery to remove a chunk of his infected small intestine so he could deal with his Crohn's disease.
Learn more about Garrard's battle against Crohn's disease at www.davidgarrardfoundation.com.
Keep up with Rogers' efforts at www.therodneyrogersfoundation.org.
