ESPN Women's Basketball Recruiting

MORAGA, Calif. -- The lives of Sue Phillips and Tierra Rogers are intertwined forever by a senseless act in the middle of what for the two of them otherwise has been a source of joy -- a basketball game. They sat on opposite sides that night, Phillips the coach of visiting Archbishop Mitty and Rogers the star of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Before then, they'd shared the same colors, on a club team that Phillips coaches called the San Jose Cagers.

So it was only natural that after the murder of Rogers' father, Terray, during halftime of that night two years ago come Jan. 12, one of the first embracing arms from which she received consolation belonged to Phillips.

A graduate herself from Mitty, Phillips has coached girls' basketball there for 17 years, compiling a 480-76 record and collecting four state titles. She has served in various capacities for USA Basketball, most recently as a member of the selection committee for the U16 team that took gold at the Americas qualifying tournament in Mexico City last summer.

Last week, Rogers, ranked No. 20 in the 2009 class by ESPN HoopGurlz, collapsed after a workout, was diagnosed with a rare heart condition and underwent surgery to have a defibrillator implanted.

Her career at Cal is over before it started, but Rogers will remain on scholarship, so the education that she and her father envisioned for her will be realized. The Bay Area again rocked by a tragic jolt to Rogers' young life, it was Phillips again who put it all into perspective, calling her former player an "inspiration" to a grief-stricken community.

"We just really wanted to embrace the opportunity to get out on the court and play," Phillips said, "because we can."

Click Here for Sue Phillips' comments on the latest challenge faced by Tierra Rogers

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Glenn Nelson is a senior writer at ESPN.com and the founder of HoopGurlz.com. A member of the Parade All-American Selection Committee, he formerly coached girl's club basketball, was the editor-in-chief of an online sports network, authored a basketball book for kids, and was a longtime, national-award-winning newspaper columnist and writer. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.