attended Sears' practices because free fried chicken was provided. High school and prep school career At St. George's High School in Freeport, Rolle quickly developed his basketball skills and also competed in track and field events. He averaged 20.3 points and 13.6 rebounds per game while enrolled at that school. Rolle first dreamed of playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) when he was 16 years old, after he came back from a basketball camp in Arkansas, but had some academic issues to work out. Rolle's grade point average (GPA) was 1.0 early in his career at St. George's, forcing him to repeat ninth grade. Due to a drive to succeed academically and athletically, he eventually raised his GPA to 3.0. In 2003, following his senior year at St. George's, Rolle attended the Nike All-America Camp and convinced his mother to let him attend a preparatory school in the United States, where he could showcase his abilities and hone his talents. They eventually settled on the Laurinburg Institute, a small school in North Carolina founded in 1904. Due to an unrepaired leak, the school's gymnasium was condemned in 1997, and the basketball team was forced to play home games as far as away. In Rolle's only year at the institute, his team went 40–0 and won the national prep school championship. Under head coach Chris Chaney, Rolle recorded a per-game average of 10.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.5 blocked shots and had a field goal and free throw percentage of 64 percent and 76 percent, respectively. Rolle also played with the Arkansas Wings on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit while at the Laurinburg Institute. He received scholarship offers from Arizona, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, LSU, and North Carolina. After verbally committing to Florida State in March 2004, Rolle reopened his recruitment in July. He decided on LSU, to which fellow Laurinburg teammate Chris Johnson had already committed, and signed his letter of intent on November 18, 2004. Rolle was listed as the eighth-best power forward in the class of 2005 and 32nd overall recruit by Rivals.com. College career LSU Freshman On November 18, 2005, in an 84–56 defeat of Southern University, Rolle made his collegiate debut, playing 14 minutes and scoring six points while also grabbing three rebounds. Rolle shot 4-of-8 from the field and contributed season bests in rebounds (10) and points (8) to help lead LSU past