In the early 2000s, Jordan Roland wandered into the Syracuse locker room with his brother, Ryan. They had special access: His father, Rahsaah, knew then-assistant coach Rob Murphy from Detroit.

Roland met Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara, among others. He went around with a poster of the team, asking for autographs. By the end of the night, the poster was filled.

Tuesday night, Roland, a Syracuse native, will find himself inside the Carrier Dome once again. This time, it’ll be in the visitor’s locker room. Roland is the leading scorer for Northeastern (4-4) in his first season since sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules, averaging 15.9 points per game. The Westhill (New York) High School graduate will return “home” with a chance to spoil the Orange’s (5-2) recent string of success.

“I’m just really excited to play in front of my family and friends that don’t really get to see me play as often,” Roland said.

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Roland played in the Carrier Dome twice in high school. He’s been in the stands plenty times as a fan. But Tuesday night is incomparable. It’s a game that he circled in his calendar since finding out the Huskies scheduled the matchup.

At Northeastern, Roland has immediately become a star. In his Huskies debut, he struggled a bit in a three-point loss to Boston University. After a few up-and-down performances, including a five-point game against Alabama and a 35-point showing against Harvard, Roland has cemented himself as the team’s go-to scorer. Especially with starting point guard Vasa Pusica out 4-to-6 weeks with a fractured left wrist.

In the last three games, since Pusica’s injury, Roland has scored 21.3 points per game shooting 64 percent from the field and 61 percent from 3.

Out of high school, Roland committed to George Washington. Two years later, he decided to transfer. Since his transfer, allegations surrounding ex-GW head coach Mike Lonergan arose, according to multiple reports. Lonergan was accused of verbally abusing his players, causing one player to seek therapy and quit the sport entirely. He was fired in Sept. 2016 after an independent investigation from the school.

“For a kid that young to have a long-term outlook and not just a short-term outlook,” Rahsaah said. “I knew he was going to make a good decision.”

Courtesy of Northeastern athletics

After receiving looks from Colgate and Siena, among others, Roland found that Northeastern had his perfect mix of academics, basketball competition and proximity to home.

Once he joined the Huskies, Roland was largely unbothered by sitting out another year. Midway through the 2017-18 season, Rahsaah and Roland’s mom, Kerry, asked Roland if he had been bothered by the year off.

“It’s not as bad as I thought,” Rahsaah remembered his son said.

While practicing with the team, Roland would talk things through with Pusica, who transferred from San Diego the year prior. Their bond helped ease the process.

“There was familiarity and things didn’t work at GW and this was a natural fit for him,” Northeastern head coach Bill Coen said. “We were in need of a player just like him.”

Rahsaah has motivated Roland as the game with Syracuse quickly approaches. It comes in form of “trash talk,” joked Rahsaah, who played college basketball at Mercyhurst. Rahsaah tells Roland that he’ll be too afraid of going up against the 2-3 zone. That he’ll pass rather than shoot.

It’s all in an attempt to motivate Roland to do the opposite — and stick to his game, which has helped lead Northeastern to back-to-back wins.

“Just try to put him at ease,” Rahsaah said. “It’s not as big as you think. Relax, have fun. You know these guys.”

When Roland steps on the court Tuesday night, he’ll do his usual pregame routine. Stretch out. Shoot around. Talk to teammates. But this time, the usual warm ups will have added meaning.

When he walks over to the bench for a breather, his parents will be a few rows behind. Then, as he steps back on the court, friends and family will scream and clap for him.

Because he’s back home.

Published on December 3, 2018 at 10:02 pm

Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco