Gateway basketball coach Alvis Rogers steps down after 7 seasons

By: Michael Love
Friday, September 5, 2025 | 11:42 AM

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After seven seasons as head coach of the Gateway boys basketball team, Alvis Rogers felt it was time to step down from the post, citing family and personal issues for his decision.

“There was a lot of things that were weighing on me mentally, and I felt I needed to take care of Alvis for a little while,” said Rogers who started with the Gateway program in 2014 as an assistant under Daryn Freedman.

Rogers stressed that the decision had nothing to do with anything involving the basketball team.

“Gateway was good to me, and I will always hold them deep and dear to my heart because they gave me an opportunity to be a part of their family and coach boys basketball,” he said.

“I am very grateful for that. It was just about my mental well-being.

Rogers said he was weighing the decision for several months. He guided the summer program, a collection of open gyms and league games, with his assistant coaches, through early August.

A couple of weeks after, he approached athletic director Don Holl and discussed his plans to step down.

“I told him that it was something that I had to do,” Rogers said.

“I’ve always said to myself that if I can’t give 100% of myself to the players, the coaches and the program, then it is time to get out of the game. I told Don that sometimes in practice, I would find my mind wandering about other things in my life. That wasn’t a good thing.

“The game has been good to me. I never got into (coaching) for the wins, the statistics or anything like that. I did it because I enjoyed working with the players and being able to give back. I wanted to help the kids be successful, not only on the court, but in the classroom and in life.”

After the talk with Holl, Rogers contacted his staff and shared his decision, and he then met with the players the next day.

“It was very emotional for me because we had been to many tough battles together,” Rogers said.

“I have known some of them for a very long time. I told them that it wasn’t anything about them. They are good guys and have come together to become a good team. It was me. I had to take care of me. I couldn’t give 100% to them. But they understood and wished me well, and I wished them well. They asked me if I would come and see them play, and I will. And I will do whatever I can to help them.”

Holl said Rogers’ decision was a surprise, but it was one that he understood.

“From our end of things, and for me personally and professionally first and foremost, there’s nobody who I’ve worked with at any stop along the way who I have more respect and admiration for than Alvis,” Holl said.

“He’s a great coach and a greater man. I was fortunate to get to work with him and have him be a part of our athletic staff.

“He has had some significant things go on in his life with family members that were pretty heavy, and I very much respect his decision based off of those things. He just couldn’t give all of himself to our guys. That says as much about him as anything. He’s always given everything he has to the program, and that’s why we’re so sorry he’s not going to be leading it anymore.”

Rogers’ assistant coaches, led by Vern Benson, currently are working with the team and getting them ready for fall league play, which begins Saturday at Woodland Hills.

Holl said the administration collectively decided to post the job opening, including at WPIAL.org.

“It’s not that we don’t have great internal candidates. We just want to do our due diligence and make sure we get the very best coach in place for this season,” Holl said.

“We’re obviously working very quickly because the season is about to happen. We’re going to try to work to get things done this month, if we can.”

Rogers compiled a 90-69 overall record in his seven seasons at the helm of the Gators.

After missing the WPIAL playoffs in his first season, Gateway recorded six straight postseason trips.

This past winter, the Gators went 13-9, tied for second in Section 1-5A with Latrobe, drew the No. 12 seed for the WPIAL playoffs, and suffered a 49-42 loss to Moon.

The 2021-22 Gators made memorable postseason run.

They advanced to the WPIAL semifinals and made the first of three straight trips to the PIAA tournament.

Gateway beat District 9 champion DuBois handily in the first round, clipped District 3’s Hershey in overtime in the second round and edged WPIAL champion Laurel Highlands by three points in the quarterfinals.

The Gators’ run came to an end in the semifinals with a loss to state runner-up New Castle.

Gateway again returned to the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA playoffs in the 2022-23 season. In a PIAA rematch, the Gators lost a one-point heartbreaker to Hershey in the first round.

The 2023-24 team, after a run to the WPIAL quarterfinals, drew Mechanicsburg in the first round of states. Gateway gave the District 3 champion all it could handle before falling 60-52.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway