Former Wake Forest star and 12-year NBA veteran Rodney Rogers has passed away at 54.

Wake Forest announced Saturday that Rogers died Friday. The No. 9 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft, Rogers had been paralyzed from the shoulders down since a dirt bike accident in November 2008. According to a statement from the National Basketball Players Association released on behalf of his family, Rogers died of natural causes related to his spinal cord injury.

“The last 17 years have been both challenging and profoundly blessed,” the NBPA statement reads. “Through every moment, Rodney remained a light — positive, motivated, and full of the quiet strength that inspired everyone around him.”

In 1991, Rogers was named Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year and, in 1993, became the Player of th

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