Michael Roll Named OC Register Player of the Year!

Roll Model
Aliso Niguel senior Michael Roll showed his player of the year mettle in the CIF-SS I-A title game, when he helped erase an early double-digit deficit.

By STEVE FRYER
The Orange County Register
March 22, 2005

Aliso Niguel's Michael Roll. THOMAS SULLENS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REIGSTER

How a player performs in the most important games establishes that player's worth.

Aliso Niguel's Michael Roll displayed his worth in the CIF-Southern Section Division I-A championship game, against El Toro.

The Wolverines trailed early, 13-2. Roll hit a three-pointer to make it 13-5. He made another to make it 13-8, and minutes later, he made one more to put the Wolverines ahead to stay, 19-16.

Aliso Niguel went on to win the I-A championship, the school's first basketball section championship.

Roll played that way all season. His individual efforts had more impact on his team's results than the individual efforts of any other player in Orange County.

Therefore, Michael Roll is the Register's Player of the Year for the 2004-05 season in boys basketball.

Roll's play in the clutch in the I-A championship game, a 67-60 victory over El Toro, was typical of how he took over for the Wolverines when a game was on the line.

"When we were down by so much so early," Roll said, "that's when I decided it was time to take it upon myself to get things going. I like doing my best on the biggest stage."

He had done so just the game before, when Aliso Niguel played Temescal Canyon in the I-A semifinals.

"We were up by two at halftime," Aliso Niguel coach Keith Barnett said. "For the third quarter, Mike came out on fire. He just willed us to win that game."

Roll scored 15 points in the first 41/2 minutes of the quarter, and the Wolverines went on to win, 66-54, to get to Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim for the championship game.

Getting to The Pond was not on the list of Roll's preseason goals.

"The main focus at first," he said, "was to win league. Then, as the season went on, we could see how much potential we had. Then, we set winning CIF as a goal."

Roll signed a letter of intent with UCLA. He was not sure at the end of his junior year if he would be recruited by UCLA or any other prominent college program.

"It all started during the summer," Roll said, "at a camp at Stanford. I had a really good showing there."

As for selecting UCLA, Roll said, "UCLA's about as prestigious as it gets in college basketball. It's a school in the UC system, a program that's on the rise, and I'm getting a chance to play in the Pac-10, too."

Roll credited 1 Tough School Of Basketball, a basketball skills developmental program led by former Chapman University and Santa Ana Valley coach Rich Prospero, with helping him improve quickly during the past two years.

"Richie taught me about how to move without the ball," Roll said. "I improved a lot in the intangible areas, like using screens and just overall team play."

Still, Roll sees many areas in which he can improve.

"I need to get bigger and stronger," he said, "and quicker on the defensive end."

Barnett is confident that Roll will improve into the player Roll wants to be.

"Mike is so determined," Barnett said. "He drives himself harder than any player I've seen. He has a very strong will and desire to be the best."

Roll loves it when he feels he is playing at his best, at his highest level.

"When I'm really in the game," he said, "when everything starts clicking, and I get in that zone ... the feeling you get, when you get there. It's priceless. You just can't beat it."

And nobody could beat Michael Roll this year.