The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedi.net

AFTER taking a year off to polish up her game in Europe, centre Waltiea Rolle is now headed to the Minnesota Lynx as the first Bahamian to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association.

The Lynx confirmed on their website that they have signed Rolle. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “We are excited to welcome Waltiea to the Lynx organisation,” said Lynx executive vice president Roger Griffith. “Waltiea was one of the top players in the ACC during her career with North Carolina and her list of collegiate achievements is impressive. She has also proven to be a key asset to her team in Bulgaria this season.”

Rolle, 22, was originally selected by the Lynx in the third round (36th overall) of the 2013 WNBA Draft. A 6-6 centre from the Bahamas, Rolle was the first player from the Bahamas to be drafted in league history. She currently plays overseas in the Women’s Bulgaria League with Haskovo where she has played 16 games, averaging a league-best 23.7 points per game, including 13.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.

Prior to being drafted by the Lynx in last year’s draft, Rolle averaged 12.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in her senior year with North Carolina, ranking second in the ACC in blocks per game. She was voted to the ACC All-Defensive team by coaches twice during her collegiate career. Rolle finished her four-year career at North Carolina as the eighth-leading shot blocker in ACC history (262). As a senior, she ranked third in the ACC in offensive rebounds, while ranking second on the Tar Heels in points and third in rebounds.

The Lynx are scheduled to kick off their 16th season in the WNBA on the road at Washington on Friday, May 16 at 7pm. The 2014 home opener will be on Sunday, May 18 vs. Connecticut at 4pm, which will feature an historic ring ceremony and championship banner raising for the 2013 WNBA champions.

Rolle, who also completed her studies at North Carolina before she pursued her pro career, was unavailable for comments as she is currently in Bulgaria. They defeated Montana 3-2 in their semifinals and are set to start the championship series against the top ranked Dunav, starting on Thursday night.

Mario Bowleg, first vice president of the Bahamas Basketball Federation, has expressed their delight in seeing Rolle being elevated to the highest level of women’s basketball.

“We want to congratulate her for achieving such a milestone, not just in basketball, but especially for women’s basketball in the country and opening the door for other young women to aspire to achieve such success in their career,” Bowleg said. “She’s now going to be playing with the best of the best.

“It’s proven that we can develop such talented players in the females as we’ve done in the past with the males. So we can’t forget those who started to work with her from the ground up when she started playing with Pattie Johnson, who has done a great job in developing female basketball players in this country. She got her fundamentals from there and moved on to high school in Houston to college in North Carolina and now to the highest level of basketball in the world in the WNBA.”

Over the years, Bowleg said Rolle has been a shining example for those female basketball players who wish to follow in her footsteps. “Some of us would have said she should have jumped right into the WNBA when she was drafted last year,” Bowleg said. “But she did the right thing. She pursued another professional basketball job in Europe and continued to improve her skills that will allow her to be one of the better players in the WNBA this coming season and an asset to the Minnesota Lynx.

“So to all of those female players, like Felicia Kelly, who is also aspiring to become a pro player by going to one or two camps later this summer to try to get to the next level to play professional basketball, I think this has been an inspiration to the younger female players to get to the level that Waltiea has reached. So we in the basketball federation, are pretty excited to see her in the WNBA.”

Bowleg, however, said they are hoping that they can convince the Lynx to allow Rolle to come home to play for the Bahamas women’s national basketball team at the Caribbean Basketball Championships in the British Virgin Islands July 6-12.

“We are in discussion with her agent to see if we can get this worked out so she can come home and represent the Bahamas for that week,” Bowleg said. “I’m sure that if we can get her, she will be a great asset to the country. We just have to put some things in place to get the approval.

“If we can get her, we’re sure that we can put together a team that can go to the CBC and win the gold that we haven’t won in years. And if we can do that, we can qualify for the CentroBasket and hopefully move on to the Tournament of Americas and eventually the Olympic Games.”

She left home at the age of 13 to attend the Frank Rutherford Institute in Houston,Texas, where she attended Westbury Christian High School. Prior to leaving, she attended HO Nash Junior High School and played volleyball under the tutelage of the great coach Pattie Johnson.

During her junior year at CR Walker Secondary High, she was discovered by Frank Rutherford while walking home from school and the rest was history.

Rolle is the mother of Carlisa Rolle and the daughter of Maxwell Rolle and Donna Rolle nee Hepburn. She is the sister of Walter Rolle, Leroy Stuart and Zhivargo Hepburn.