Michael Roll (basketball)

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. 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.

Ranked as the No. 1 shooting guard in the West by Scout.com, 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).

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." 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, but Roll's season had ended prematurely after he ruptured his left plantar fascia. However, he was granted a medical redshirt, earning another year of eligibility to effectively remain a junior. He returned the following season, but continued as a role player behind Shipp and freshman Jrue Holiday. Roll and the Bruins again qualified for the NCAA Tournament, but were eliminated in the round of 32.

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. He was pushed into his new role after the departure of seniors Shipp, Darren Collison, and Alfred Aboya from the prior season. 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. 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. Roll, Nikola Dragovic, and James Keefe were the only seniors on the team, and Keefe's season ended prematurely after season-ending shoulder surgery. 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. He averaged 22.5 points in the two tournament games, and was named to the All-Tournament team. The Bruins finished the season 14-18 and did not qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time in six seasons. 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, and set the school record for most career games played (147), surpassing Collison and Aboya's previous mark (142). Roll was selected to play in the Reese's College All-Star Game during the Final Four.

Professional career

Roll began his career playing overseas for Bornova Belediye (Turkey) and Antwerp Giants (Begium), 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. He re-signed with Zaragoza the following season. Roll signed with Turk Telekom of the Turkish Basketball League for 2014–15, and joined Tuyap Buyukcekmece B.K. for 2015–16.

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.