Michael Roll (basketball)

Michael Roll

Roll with UCLA in 2009
No. 20 Beşiktaş
Position Shooting guard
League Turkish Basketball Super League
Champions League
Personal information
Born (1987-04-12) April 12, 1987
Mission Viejo, California
Nationality American / Tunisian
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 202 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, California)
College UCLA (2005–2010)
NBA draft 2010 / Undrafted
Playing career 2010–present
Career history
2010–2011 Bornova Belediye
2011–2012 Antwerp Giants
2012–2014 CAI Zaragoza
2014–2015 Türk Telekom
2015–2016 Tüyap Büyükçekmece
2016 Saski Baskonia
2016–present Beşiktaş
Career highlights and awards

Michael Brandon Roll (born April 12, 1987)[1] is a Tunisian-American professional basketball player for Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL). Born in America, he joined the Tunisia national basketball team after becoming a naturalized citizen in 2015.

Roll played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, who reached the Final Four three times in four NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure. Roll was the Bruins leading scorer in his final season in 2009–10, when he earned all-conference honors in the Pacific-10. He has played professionally in Turkey, Belgium, and Spain. He is scheduled to play for Tunisia in the AfroBasket 2015.

Early life

Roll was born in Mission Viejo, California, to Richard and Joyce Roll. He played basketball at Aliso Niguel High School, where as a senior he was named the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division I-A Player of the Year.[1] That season, he averaged almost 25 points per game while leading the Wolverines over top-seeded Lake Forest El Toro in the Division I-A title game.[2]

Ranked as the No. 1 shooting guard in the West by Scout.com,[3][4] Roll originally gave a verbal, non-binding, commitment to attend college at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before he changed to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[4][5]

College career

As a freshman for UCLA in 2005–06, Roll played on a 32–7 Bruins team that lost in the 2006 national championship to Florida. Though he played behind Aaron Afflalo and Cedric Bozeman that season, Roll averaged 15 minutes per game, and UCLA coach Ben Howland called him "an important contributor."[4] The following season, he played behind Afflalo and Josh Shipp while UCLA returned to the Final Four. As a junior, he was bypassed for a starting position by sophomore Russell Westbrook. UCLA again reached the Final Four,[6] but Roll's season had ended prematurely after he ruptured his left plantar fascia.[4] However, he was granted a medical redshirt, earning another year of eligibility to effectively remain a junior.[7] He returned the following season, but continued as a role player behind Shipp and freshman Jrue Holiday.[4][8] Roll and the Bruins again qualified for the NCAA Tournament, but were eliminated in the round of 32.[8]

After years of being a role player for the Bruins, Roll became a leader of the team as a fifth-year senior in 2009–10.[9][10] He was pushed into his new role after the departure of seniors Shipp, Darren Collison, and Alfred Aboya from the prior season.[8] Moreover, he would have been only the fourth option on the team behind Kevin Love, Westbrook, and Holiday, had they not declared early for the National Basketball Association.[11] Roll prepared for the increased workload during the offseason with a workout regimen that included basketball workouts twice a day, ball-handling drills, shooting 500 times daily, and a weight-training program to strengthen his legs and back. UCLA's roster that season included six freshmen and six sophomores.[12] Roll, Nikola Dragović, and James Keefe were the only seniors on the team, and Keefe's season ended prematurely after season-ending shoulder surgery.[11] UCLA's season ended in the semifinals of the 2010 Pacific-10 Conference Tournament with an 85–72 loss to California, despite a career-high 27 points from Roll.[11] He averaged 22.5 points in the two tournament games, and was named to the All-Tournament team.[13] The Bruins finished the season 14-18 and did not qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time in six seasons.[14] Roll earned first team All-Pac-10 honors, and was named the Bruins' most valuable player after leading the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game. He also led UCLA with 3.6 assists per game,[15] and set the school record for most career games played (147), surpassing Collison and Aboya's previous mark (142).[16] Roll was selected to play in the Reese's College All-Star Game during the Final Four.[17]

Professional career

Roll began his career playing overseas for Bornova Belediye (Turkey) and Antwerp Giants (Belgium),[18] helping Antwerp to the Belgian Cup final in 2012. He joined CAI Zaragoza (Spain) in 2012–13, when they reached the semifinals of the ACB Playoffs as well as the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.[19] He re-signed with Zaragoza the following season.[20] Roll signed with Türk Telekom of the Turkish Basketball League for 2014–15,[21] and joined Tüyap Büyükçekmece B.K. for 2015–16.[22] He was named a Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) All-Star in 2016.[23] He signed with Baskonia for the Playoffs as well as the following season,[24] but left the team at the end of the playoffs. On July 19, 2016, he signed with Turkish club Beşiktaş.[25]

International career

Roll became a naturalized citizen of Tunisia in July 2015, enabling him to join the Tunisia national basketball team and compete in AfroBasket 2015, which was hosted in Tunisia.[26][27]

References

  1. 1 2 "Michael Roll Biography". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  2. "The Times' All-star Boys' Basketball Team". Los Angeles Times. April 26, 2005. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  3. "Michael Roll Profile". Scout.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Gold, Jon (January 15, 2010). "UCLA's Roll no longer a role player". The Daily Breeze. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  5. Pucin, Diane (November 11, 2004). "Howland Gets Recruits From Canada to Cameroon". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  6. Balderas, Al (February 26, 2010). "UCLA's Roll reflects on his career". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  7. Wharton, David (December 28, 2008). "Roll makes the most of time as a starter". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 Wharton, David (March 23, 2009). "UCLA faces an uncertain future after early exit from NCAA tournament". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  9. Moore, David Leon (December 29, 2009). "UCLA hoops going through rough chapter in storied history". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  10. Shelburne, Ramona (March 10, 2010). "A season to forget". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 Markazi, Arash (March 13, 2010). "Cal seniors end UCLA's season". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  12. Smith, Marcia C. (December 26, 2009). "UCLA's Roll has a different role". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  13. Balderas, Al (March 13, 2010). "UCLA basketball: Roll lands on All-Tournament team". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  14. Howard, Andrew (March 15, 2010). "UCLA guard Michael Roll ends UCLA career as a respected team leader". TheDaily Bruin. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  15. Gold, Jon (April 12, 2010). "UCLA names Michael Roll Team MVP". insidesocal.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  16. Finney, Ryan. "UCLA Intercollegiate Athletics Report" (PDF). UCLA Athletics. p. 12. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014.
  17. Angulo, Blair (March 26, 2014). "Roll selected to participate in All-Star game". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  18. "Roll, Michael". eurocupbasketball.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  19. "CAI ZARAGOZA keeps scoring ace Roll". euroleague.net. July 1, 2013. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  20. "Michael Roll renueva un año con el CAI Zaragoza". Heraldo de Aragon (in Spanish). June 30, 2013. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  21. "Michael Roll joins Turk Telekom". eurobasket.com. July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  22. "Buyukcekmece tabs Michael Roll". eurobasket.com. July 13, 2015. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
  23. "Erving Walker ve Michael Roll ALL-STAR'da!". demirinsaatbuyukcekmecebasketboltakimi.com. January 19, 2016. Archived from the original on January 23, 2016.
  24. "Michael Roll refuerza el perímetro baskonista". baskonia.com (in Spanish). May 24, 2016.
  25. "Besiktas inks Michael Roll". Sportando.com. July 19, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  26. "Roll gearing up to play for AfroBasket 2015 hosts Tunisia". FIBA.com. July 25, 2015. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015.
  27. Kartje, Ryan (July 11, 2015). "Shot at a $1 million: Forming a team for winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament proves quite an undertaking". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015.
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