PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College head basketball coach Donald Rollman has developed quite a local pipeline of players.
Back when Rollman was an assistant coach, Forks’ Marky Adams starred as a 6-foot-9 center for the Pirates. Port Angeles’ Luke Angevine made the roster a couple of years ago and last year, Sequim’s Nate Despain and Port Angeles’ Gabe Long were huge contributors for Peninsula.
This year, the pipeline continues as the Pirates have signed Roughriders’ guard Gary Johnson III to play for Peninsula next season.
It can be a huge jump from high school to college ball. The players tend to be vastly bigger, more athletic and faster. Port Angeles coach Kasey Ulin think Johnson has what it takes to succeed at the next level.
First of all, the 17-7 Roughriders had an exceptionally deep bench last season and few players on the team put in more than 15-20 minutes a game. Johnson gave up a lot of minutes for the good of the team last year.
“I’m really excited for Gary, he’s worked extremely hard for the past four years on and off the floor,” he said. “He’s an awesome leader for his teammates and his community.
“He’s a great teammate. He’s extremely coachable, he loves basketball. He has good character traits,” Ulin said.
Johnson said he was attracted to Peninsula because he has known Rollman for a few years.
“They’re local. I know the coach really well. I’ve known him for two or three years. I like all the players,” Johnson said. “Rollman is a great coach. I know him very well. He’s very welcoming, a very nice guy.”
“What’s most intriguing is seeing him develop in his maturity from the ninth grade,” Rollman said.
Johnson said a lot of junior colleges can get overlooked but they have great basketball programs.
“Junior colleges are also really good. And this is a good program,” he said. “I honestly thought that Peninsula was the best fit.”
“Gary is in a great spot,” Ulin said.
“He’s crafty, hard-nosed kid. I won’t be surprised to see him do well like Nate and Marky,” Rollman said. He expects one of the biggest challenges for Johnson will be dealing with the bigger guards at the college level. While Johnson was primarily a point guard for the Roughriders, Ulin said he’s versatile who can play both with the ball and off the ball.
Ulin said Johnson’s ability to play multiple positions will translate well to the college game.
Ulin said being able to make the leap from high school to college basketball relies not just on skill but “how much more are you willing to work and improve?”
Johnson understand the speed of the college game is much faster than at high school. He is working on improving his speed.
“You can never be too fast, never be too quick,” Johnson said. “College basketball has a higher IQ. It’s a lot faster pace. Huge difference in size.”
Johnson has been working hard during the COVID-19 situation lifting weights and playing at outdoor courts.
At the moment, Johnson will be the only local player for Peninsula. Adams moved on to play at St. Martin’s College in Lacey. Despain transferred to Utah Valley State to study chiropractics and Long is pursuing nursing studies.
While Long hit some huge shots to help the Pirates win some games, Despain was a huge part of last year’s team who played heavy minutes, especially late in games.
“That was a hard one. He’s going to be hard to replace,” Rollman said.
Johnson said the plan is to ultimately move to a four-year basketball program like Adams (Despain is not going to play at Utah Valley, an NCAA Division I school).
“That’s the goal, that would be amazing,” Johnson said.
Rollman said that Johnson is just one of many great players coming to Peninsula next year. The Pirates will have to replace their leading scorer and assist man in Davien Harris-Williams and their biggest inside presence and leading rebounder Malik Moore.
“We have an incredible class coming in. I’m super excited,” Rollman said.
