Magnum Rolle worked out with the Washington Wizards on June 2, 2010 along with Jerome Dyson, Devin Ebanks and Devin Sweetney. Below is a narrative of Rolle’s basketball career, scouting report, and video footage of his workout with the Wizards and media interview.

Magnum Rolle grew up a skinny kid riding his bike around the beaches of the Bahamas. He didn’t pick up a basketball until age 15 and turned 17 in February of his first season playing at the high school level. He quickly became a sensation, gaining attention of college coaches from big time programs who flew down to catch a glimpse of the island mystery.

To prepare himself for college, basketball-wise and academically, Rolle moved to the United States to play at Laurinberg Prep in North Carolina, a former prep school powerhouse which has since fallen on hard times.

Laurinberg is a historically all-black prep school that’s steeped basketball tradition. Past players include Celtics great and NBA Hall of Famer Sam Jones, 10-year NBA vet Charlie Scott (70-71 ABA Rookie ROY, multi-time all-star), Earl “the Goat” Manigault (the famed NY-bred Rucker Park baller who Don Cheadle played in a movie), and Chris Washburn. More recent players include Antonio Anderson, Renaldo Balkman, Joey Dorsey, Robert Dozier and Shawne Williams. Famed trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie also attended Laurinberg on a music scholarship.

Last year, the NCAA, amongst attempts to crack down on institutions with questionable academic records, reviewed Laurinberg and declared the school’s athletes ineligible to compete at the NCAA level. In a must-read profile on DiverseEducation.com, Peter Galuszka touches on this and a number of other aspects surrounding the school.

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