Cal's Rogers comes to grips with health scare

BERKELEY, Calif. — Tierra Rogers never let herself think she was going to die. Her late father gave her strength and always taught her to persevere through the most trying of times.Before Rogers' recent collapse during a basketball workout in which California's freshman guard stopped breathing, her dad's murder at halftime of her high school game outside the gym had been the greatest thing she'd endured."I'm grateful to be alive," Rogers said Friday, speaking about her ordeal for the first time. "I knew I was going to make it. At first I was scared, of course, because of the abnormal heartbeat — it was going too fast. Everybody's going to be scared for their life."Now, she is coming to grips with the devastating news her college career is over before it began because of a rare heart condition. Fortunately, it was discovered before it took her life. Last week, she had a defibrillator implanted to manage the problem. She's been out of the hospital and back in her campus dorm room since Oct. 2.Rogers, at all of 18 years old, has been through so much."Being strong is part of me. ... I think that's just how I was raised, to be strong. My dad always told me a lot of stuff, like: 'You're the best. You're going to do this in life. You're a strong woman.' I always kept that in mind," Rogers said. "I have so much support. You really can't hold your head down when you have this much support."Still, nearly every day Rogers asks herself, "Why me?" She knows it could have been worse: She could not be here at all. Her condition is often fatal.Rogers lost her activist father, Terrell, when he was shot to death across the street from where she was playing for Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in San Francisco on Jan. 12, 2008. She considered giving up basketball after the tragedy."I lost him during a basketball game and I lost him in times when basketball was crucial for me," she said. "For him to be part of my life during a stage of basketball, and I can't pursue that dream anymore, it's like I'm letting him down, I'm l

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