Derrick Roland's appeal denied

The NCAA had a chance to turn Derrick Roland's bad break into a great story. If you remember, Roland was a guard on Texas A&M that suffered a gruesome leg injury in a game at Washington just three days before Christmas. (Warning: Do not click that link if you are at all squeamish.)

Roland, who was a part of the best recruiting class in Aggie history, joining with fellow seniors Bryan Davis and Donald Sloan to lead A&M to 100 wins in their four years, obviously missed the rest of his senior season.

This was Roland, just seven months ago.
(photo credit: Seattle Times)

To throw salt in the wound, the Washington game was the 12th game of the season. The NCAA's rule on injuries is that if you play in over 30% of your team's games, you cannot get back that year of eligibility. The Aggies went 24-10 on the season, meaning that Roland played in 35% of the games.

So as you would expect, the NCAA denied Roland's appeal.

"I appreciate all that Coach Turgeon and Texas A&M have done for me," Roland said. "Not only with this appeal, but for my career and for helping me to grow into the man I am today. I would have loved to come back for even half of a season, but it did not work out. At least I went out with my brothers -- BD & Sloan. We gave it everything we had. I will be okay."

It would have been an amazing story if the NCAA had reinstated Roland. Not just because of the incredible comeback -- just seven months after the injury, Roland is already back playing with the Aggies -- but because Roland, by all accounts, was a fantastic kid.

Think about it like this: Roland is relatively small and unathletic, but he was successful because he played harder and worked harder than everyone else. That's why he was the Aggie's leader on the court. After suffering a catastrophic, potentially career-threatening broken leg, Roland worked his way back by mid-summer, developed a new-found shooting stroke, and became the Big XII player of the year while leading the Aggie's to a conference title.

Ok, I took some creative liberties with the ending, but that story writes itself. That right there is a movie deal. Get Rob Brown to play Roland, Sean Connery to play head coach Mark Turgeon, find some way to get Denzel Washington a part in the movie, and you have a money maker.

It would be like Rudy, Coach Carter, and Remember the Titans all rolled into one. I would absolutely go to see that movie.

That said, as great as that story would have been, the NCAA made the right decision is denying Roland.

A rule is a rule. Texas A&M played 34 games, and Roland took part in 12 of them. That means he can't get an extra year of eligibility. And when you put sentiments aside, a season-ending injury is a season-ending injury. Other than how nasty the injury itself was, is there really a difference between Roland's broken leg and a torn acl? A ruptured achilles? The broken wrist that cost Ed Davis the end of his college career?

If the NCAA is going to start changing rules for the best story, they might as well go back and count Gordon Hayward's half court heave that bounced off the rim and ended to 2010 Tournament.

Yes, that comparison is drastic, I know, but you get my point.

Derrick, if you ever read this, I'm pulling for you. Its an inspirational story. I hope the best for you and your family as you chase a career as a professional basketball player.

But you're going to convince me the NCAA made the wrong decision.
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UPDATE: Final thoughts on the Roland injury

UPDATE: Derrick Roland is heading home for christmas.


Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, heard about the injury Roland suffered after his team hosted the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.

He offered to pay for Betty Cofield, Roland's aunt and legal guardian, to rent a private jet to fly up to Seattle.

"He wanted his staff to find out out how much it would cost," Mavs spokesman Colin Killian said.

He wasn't the only one offering support.

Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar, assistant Raphael Chillious, and senior Quincy Pondexter made the trip across town to visit Roland in the hospital.

Donald Sloan sits with Derrick Roland in the hospital.
(photo credit: Seattle PI)

Apparently, this isn't the first time Roland has suffered this kind of injury. Back in the 2003-2004 season, when he was playing at Seagoville High School in Dallas (with Donald Sloan and current Blazer LaMarcus Aldridge), Roland fractured his right leg; the same leg he broke on Tuesday night.

There have been conflicting reports as to whether or not Roland will be able to get home by Christmas. Doctors are hopeful he will be able to leave tonight, but according the Texas A&M head coach Mark Turgeon "The doctor is worried about flying him home with blood clotting and things like that so he's probably going to be here through Christmas." Turgeon, Sloan, and Aggie assistant Dustin Clark have remained in Seattle.

Aggie assistant, addressing the media after the game, had this to say about the view of the injury from the bench, and how his team handled it:

Our trainer ... became very very pale. I think he almost passed out looking at the injury. It was a very gruesome sight for everyone to look at. I didn't see it. According to our trainer it was protruding from the skin. It was gory. ... We heard it. I didn't see it. you cold hear the snap. It was a loud snap. I know we all heard the snap and it's something you're never going to forget. It was a loud break.

First of all, we said a prayer as a team. We all got together, we prayed for D-ro. A lot of our guys were in tears. Crying I think partly because of the injury, the way it looked. Partly because they realized D-Ro was down, being such a tough, competitive guy that he is, it's tough to see a guy like Derrick Roland in that situation. I think a lot of our guys were upset by both the injury and the way it looked and the fact that D-Ro was down. We tried to get the guys back. At one point, coach Turgeon was going to go with him to the hospital instead of finishing the game. Again, our guys really wanted to rally around him and see if we could come up with a win. Our prayers are with D-Ro and hopefully he comes out of surgery ok. He's stable now and we expect him to make a full recovery.

Roland's collegiate career looks to be over. He can apply for a medical hardship waiver, but an extra year of eligibility is only granted if the player participated in less than 30% of the team's games. Roland played in 12 of Texas A&M's 30 games, or 40%. But according to reports, his playing career isn't over. The injury was apparently a clean, albeit gruesome, break, and doctors have said it was similar to the injury suffered by Kenyon Martin his senior season.

If there is one part of this ordeal that does put a smile on your face, it was the doctor that did Roland's surgery:

And as it turns out, Roland might have even had a Washington-area fan in the operating room with him. According to Killian, one of the doctors prior to performing the surgery had something to tell Roland.

Yep, the doctor was an Aggie.

"(Roland's) face lit up," Killian said. "It put him at ease."

Anyone wishing to send a get well wish to Roland can find contact information here.
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