Four bronze plaques will grace the George Rogers statue

George Rogers will have some dressing.

The Building and Grounds Committee of South Carolina’s Board of Trustees approved four bronze plaques that will grace the statue of Rogers on Thursday.

The monument, which will be located at the northwest corner of the lot where Bluff Road and George Rogers Boulevard meet as the anchor of the new Springs-Brooks Plaza, will have the plaques on a four-foot base supporting the nine-foot statue.

Three of the four plaques honor Rogers, the 1980 Heisman Trophy winner, and his teammates. The fourth is a list of donors. One will carry a text summary of Rogers’ career; one will list Rogers’ school records, of which he still holds career totals in yards and attempts; and one will have the USC roster from 1980.

The plaques passed first approval in April but had slight revisions. The roster was expanded from 60 names to over 90, including coaches.

That team, which went 8-4 and lost to Pitt in the Gator Bowl, featured Rogers as the offensive captain and BOT member Chuck Allen as the defensive captain. Allen first presented the idea of a Rogers statue in 2011.

“I’d like to commend (USC Senior Associate Athletic Director Charles Bloom) and (sports information director) Steve Fink, who participated in the roster review, and Willie Scott, and coach Harold White,” Allen said on a conference call. “I think it was very appropriate that this was done.”

The statue, which cost $275,000 and was paid for by former USC cheerleader Patti Shelley, is on track to be ready by Sept. 12, which is USC’s first home game.

The plaza also is on schedule to be completed by then.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Four bronze plaques will grace the George Rogers statue."