Michael Brandon Roll (born April 12, 1987) is an American-born naturalized Tunisian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who last played for

Pınar Karşıyaka Pınar is a common feminine Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Pınar" means "Spring" (of water), and/or "Fountain". Notable people called Pınar include: Given name * Pinar Heggernes (born 1969), Turkish-born Norwegian computer scientist * Pına ...

of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League ( tr, Basketbol Süper Ligi; BSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replac ...

(BSL). Born in America, he joined the

Tunisia national basketball team The Tunisian national basketball team ( ar, منتخب تونس لكرة السلة), nicknamed ''Les Aigles de Carthage (The Eagles of Carthage or The Carthage Eagles)'', is the national basketball team of Tunisia. The team is governed by the Tu ...

after becoming a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

citizen in 2015. Roll played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

, 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 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

. He has played professionally in Turkey, Belgium, Spain, Israel, and Italy.

Early life

Roll was born in

Mission Viejo, California Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities eve ...

, to Richard and Joyce Roll. He played basketball at

Aliso Niguel High School Aliso Niguel High School (ANHS), which is part of the Capistrano Unified School District, is located in the city of Aliso Viejo, California. Most of its students reside in the communities of Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel. The school is a Californ ...

, 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 The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

in the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

, Roll originally gave a verbal, non-binding, commitment to attend college at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, before he changed to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(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 Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Though he played behind

Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. As a junior, he was named a consensus All-America ...

and

Cedric Bozeman Cedric Rudolph Bozeman (born March 7, 1983) is an American professional basketball player for Link Tochigi Brex of the B.League. Early life Born in Los Angeles, California, Bozeman attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana alongside Jamal Sam ...

that season, Roll averaged 15 minutes per game, and UCLA coach

Ben Howland Benjamin Clark Howland (born May 28, 1957) is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the men's head coach at Mississippi State University from to 2015 to 2022. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Northern Ar ...

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 Russell Westbrook III (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, he is a nine-time NBA All-Star and ...

. 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 Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

, 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 Jrue Randall Holiday (; born June 12, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins before being selected ...

. Roll and the Bruins again qualified for the NCAA Tournament, but were eliminated in the round of 32. Michael Roll shooting (cropped)

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 Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who is a free agent. Collison played four seasons of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He earned All-Pac-10 conference honors three times, and won ...

, and

Alfred Aboya Alfred Aboya Baliaba (born 2 January 1985) is a Cameroonian former professional basketball player and current coach. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, advancing to three Final Fours. He was a member of the winningest class in UCLA ...

from the prior season. Moreover, he would have been only the fourth option on the team behind

Kevin Love Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA Second Team and ...

, 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 Dragović Nikola Dragović (born December 20, 1987) is a Serbian professional basketball player. He played college basketball at UCLA. Early career Dragović grew up with KK Avala Ada (nowadays Mega Basket) juniors and made his debut with the senior team ...

, 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 California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, 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 In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

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 The Reese's College All-Star Game, founded by the NABC, is a men's college basketball game showcasing 20 of the best senior players in NCAA Division I. The two teams are coached by current and/or former college basketball coaches. The game is ...

during the Final Four.

Professional career

Bornova Belediye (2010–2011)

After going undrafted in the

2010 NBA draft The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National ...

, Roll joined the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

for the

2010 NBA Summer League The 2010 National Basketball Association Summer League ( NBA Summer League) was a pro basketball league ran by the NBA in the United States just following the 2010 NBA draft. Teams consisted of players who have been in the league for three years ...

. One week later, on July 3, 2010, Roll started his professional career with the Turkish team

Bornova Belediye Bornova Belediyespor is a basketball club based in Bornova district of İzmir, Turkey that plays in the Turkish Basketball First League, Turkish Basketball First League (TBL) since 2009–2010 season. Their home arena is the İzmir Halkapınar S ...

, signing a one-year deal.

Antwerp Giants (2011–2012)

On July 24, 2011, Roll signed with the Belgian team

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Telenet Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, are a Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketball. The clu ...

for the 2011–12 season. On November 8, 2011, Roll recorded a career-high 27 points, shooting 13-of-17 from the field, along with four rebounds and three assists in a 72–76 loss to

BC Enisey BC Enisey (russian: БК Енисей) is a Russian professional basketball team from the city of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia. Since the 2011–12 season, Enisey plays its national domestic league games in the VTB United League. The team colors ...

. Roll helped Antwerp to reach the 2012 Belgian Cup Final, where they eventually lost to

Okapi Aalstar Okapi Aalst is a Belgian professional basketball club from Aalst, Belgium. The club competes in the top tier BNXT League and plays its home games in the Okapi Forum, which has a seating capacity of 2,800 people. Okapi is a long-time participant o ...

Zaragoza (2012–2014)

On July 5, 2012, Roll joined the Spanish team

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

for the 2012–13 season. In his first season with Zaragoza, Roll helped them to reach the 2013 ACB Playoffs Semifinals as well as the Copa del Rey Quarterfinals. On June 30, 2013, Roll signed a one-year contract extension with Zaragoza.

Türk Telekom (2014–2015)

On July 28, 2014, Roll signed with

Türk Telekom Türk Telekom is a state-owned Turkish telecommunications company. Türk Telekom was separated from Turkish Post (PTT) in 1995. Türk Telekom Group provides integrated telecommunication services for PSTN, GSM, and wide-band Internet. The Türk ...

of the

Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

for 2014–15 season.

Büyükçekmece (2015–2016)

On July 13, 2015, Roll signed a one-year deal with Tüyap Büyükçekmece B.K. On January 24, 2016, Roll participated in the 2016 Turkish Super League All-Star Game. In 30 games played during the 2016–17 season, Roll averaged 16.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

Baskonia (2016)

On May 24, 2016, Roll signed with the Spanish team Baskonia for the 2016 ACB Playoffs as well as the following season, but parted ways with the team at the end of the playoffs.

Beşiktaş (2016–2017)

On July 19, 2016, Roll returned to Turkey for a third stint, signing with

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

for the 2016–17 season. Roll helped Beşiktaş to reach the 2017 Turkish League Finals, where they eventually lost to Fenerbahçe.

Maccabi Tel Aviv (2017–2019)

On July 3, 2017, Roll joined the Israeli team

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

of the EuroLeague, signing a one-year deal with an option for another one. On January 11, 2018, Roll recorded a season-high 23 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the field, along with two rebounds and two assists in a 90–88 win over

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketba ...

. Roll won the 2017 Israeli League Cup and the 2018 Israeli League Championship titles with Maccabi. On June 27, 2018, Roll signed a one-year contract extension with Maccabi. On January 3, 2019, Roll recorded a season-high 23 points, shooting 6-of-7 from three-point range, along with four rebounds, five assists and three steals in a 91–79 loss to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. Roll went on to win the 2019 Israeli League Championship with Maccabi, winning his second straight Israeli League title in the process.

Olimpia Milano (2019–2021)

On July 25, 2019, Roll signed a two-year deal with

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

and the EuroLeague. On June 23, 2021, Roll officially parted ways with the Italian club.

Pınar Karşıyaka (2021–present)

On October 1, 2021, Roll signed with

of the Turkish

Basketball Super League Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

National team career

Roll became a

citizen of Tunisia in July 2015, enabling him to join the

and compete in

AfroBasket 2015 AfroBasket 2015 was the 28th edition of the AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. It also served as the qualifying tournament for FIBA Africa at the Basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament, 2016 Summ ...

, which was hosted in Tunisia. On July 3, 2017 following Roll's signing with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i basketball club

, Ali Benzarti, president of the Tunisian Basketball Federation (FTBB), announced that Roll would not be on the Tunisian national team "for now" because of his recent integration with a team in the Israeli League. Relations between Tunisia and Israel have been stressed since the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...

of 2000. After leaving Maccabi in July 2019, Roll once again joined Tunisia national team, becoming a member of the squad representing Tunisia at the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 FIBA World Ch ...

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 29 , , 28 , , 26.2 , , .470 , , .408 , , .889 , , 2.1 , , 2.9 , , .3 , , .1 , , 9.1 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 29 , , 7 , , 21.5 , , .472 , , .407 , , .905 , , 2.2 , , 2.7 , , .7 , , .0 , , 9.1 , , 8.7 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 58 , , 35 , , 23.8 , , .471 , , .407 , , .894 , , 2.1 , , 2.8 , , .5 , , .1 , , 9.1 , , 8.9

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;",

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, 38 , , 5 , , 14.7 , , .369 , , .383 , , .714 , , .9 , , .9 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 1 , , 16.3 , , .393 , , .358 , , .750 , , 1.4 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .1 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 15.5 , , .240 , , .286 , , .333 , , 1.7 , , 2.3 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 2 , , 17.1 , , .491 , , .515 , , .684 , , 1.3 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .3 , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 35.8 , , .468 , , .426 , , .766 , , 2.8 , , 3.6 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 14.1 , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 147 , , 40 , , 20.3 , , .437 , , .417 , , .726 , , 1.6 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , .1 , , 6.8

References

External links

RealGM.com profileEurobasket.com profileUCLA Bruins bioTBLStat.net Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roll, Michael 1987 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Aliso Niguel High School alumni American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Antwerp Giants players Basketball players from California Basket Zaragoza players Beşiktaş men's basketball players Bornova Belediye players Büyükçekmece Basketbol players Karşıyaka basketball players Liga ACB players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Olimpia Milano players Saski Baskonia players Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Mission Viejo, California Tunisian men's basketball players Tunisian people of American descent Türk Telekom B.K. players UCLA Bruins men's basketball players