Stew's top 20: No. 11 - Troy Rolle

One of the biggest hurdles for junior college transfers coming to Stew Morrill's teams over the years has been consistent play while learning the ropes of how Stew does things. Even some of the greats went through brutal stretches of inconsistency during the early parts of their first seasons at Utah State. And most of them also had the aid of returning teammates who knew the ropes to help them learn along the way.

Troy Rolle didn't have that kind of help from teammates, coming to USU for Morrill's first season in 1998-99. Rolle also never seemed to have the learning curve that most other JUCO transfers have.

In his first season at Utah State, Rolle was remarkably consistent compared to most, scoring in double figures in all but five games during his junior year. He came out especially strong out of the gates, averaging 15.4 points per game over his first seven games and reaching double figures in 14 of the team's first 15 games.

By season's end, Rolle had averaged 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. To date, Desmond Penigar is the only junior college transfer to have a higher scoring average in his first season than Rolle's 1999 season.

Rolle's senior year was where things really got good though. With a great recruiting class bringing on board players like Bernard Rock, Shawn Daniels, Dion Bailey and Curtis Bobb, the turn to a new millennium got off to an amazing start for Utah State.

Despite Rolle's scoring average taking a slight drop in his senior season, his shooting averages all got better and the team's win total went through the roof! After a 15-13 record in Rolle's junior year, the 2000 Aggies dominated their way to a 28-6 record, including a perfect 16-0 in Big West Conference play. No other Aggie team under Morrill has managed to go unbeaten in conference play since that season.

With Rolle, what it all came down to was that he was a total gamer. Rolle came in and never seemed to lose his footing with things, which is something that few, if any other players can claim. He also has one of the most memorable dunks in Utah State history with his epic dunk on senior night in 2000 (which YouTube seems to no longer have).

There have been a whole ton of great players at Utah State under Morrill. And while Rolle might not be the greatest of those greats, he undoubtedly the first of them to come along.