To the credit of Darryle Rogers, he was perfectly frank and cordial to me two months ago when I called him to ask about his 2012-13 basketball team.

Rogers, who is in his second year as the head coach at Brighton High School, led the Cardinals to the region semifinals last season.

The season ended against Bartlett on a last-second buzzer beater, leaving the Cardinals one win short of the program's first-ever trip to the sectionals, which is one step away from the state tournament.

That team featured juniors Demetrius Dyson and Jonathan Stark, clearly the best two players in the county.

Stark, a point guard, has signed with UT-Chattanooga and Dyson, a talented 6-6 forward, is being recruited by several Division 1 schools.

When I called Rogers back in November I was preparing to write a preview story about the Cardinals returning a ton of talent and making a run at a state tournament berth.

To my surprise, I learned that Dyson and Stark were no longer at Brighton, and neither were seniors Kameron Foster and Moses Harper, two key role players.

As a general rule, coaches don't like to talk about it when players transfer away from their schools, or to their schools.

Most coaches I've talked to over the years prefer to pretend like it didn't happen.

“Demtrius who?” would be a typical response.

Coaches don't want to look like they're recruiting players, nor do they want to give publicity to a player who leaves their program.

But Rogers told it like it was, and he was nice about it.

“I guess you haven't heard,” he said, and broke the news to me that Dyson was at Covington and Stark, Foster and Harper had decamped for Munford.

Dyson has led Covington to a top five state ranking while averaging north of 20 points a game, while Stark and Foster have been key parts of a much-improved Cougar team.

Rogers' situation is similar to Dwayne Wade and LeBron James leaving the Heat.

Now Dyson and Stark are obviously not James and Wade, and the Cardinals are not the Heat, but you get the idea. The team was gutted suddenly.

Rogers was left with a roster full of freshmen and sophomores, and the team's youth has shown. Through Jan. 17, the team had won just one game.

But Rogers has taken the high road.

After telling me that has best four players were gone to county rivals, he told me he didn't hold any grudges against the kids and wished them the best.

Since then he's made the best of the situation.

Rogers, one of the happiest looking coaches I've ever seen, has his guys playing hard and is encouraging them every step of the way, even though victories have been hard to come by.

This Saturday the Chargers will come to Brighton with a top five state ranking and Rogers' former star leading the way. 

A lot of coaches would be bitter.

But if you've ever had even a brief conversation with Rogers, you know he'll be all smiles.