Illinois recruit Rolder ready to lead Marist, keep college options open
Illinois recruit ready to leadMarist, keep college options open
Marist junior Jimmy Rolder isn’t a household name yet.
That’s likely going to change when the football season kicks off in the spring.
“I truly believe he’s a Power Five player,” Marist coach Ron Dawczak said. “He’s really athletic and very smart. He has good size. He checks all of the boxes.”
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker spent much of his first two seasons on the lower levels until earning a promotion to the varsity during the playoffs.
Rolder showed the speed, strength and instincts to affect the game in multiple areas. He totaled three sacks in three playoff games.
In many ways, the sky is the limit.
“He came up and made an impact for us in the playoffs,” Dawczak said of Rolder. “He had a sack on his first play. We expect him to be a major contributor to our defense this year.”
In due time, Rolder may attract the attention of Power Five conferences that include the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, Pac-12 and the SEC.
The more he plays, the more game tape will be available for coaches to review.
Still, there’s a potential stumbling block bigger than any offensive lineman.
Rolder is a major talent on the baseball field. A third baseman who bats right-handed, he announced his verbal commitment to Illinois over the summer.
“I’ve loved Illinois my whole life,” Rolder said. “It’s close to home. When they made the offer, I grabbed it. The whole recruiting process was tough to go through.”
Itwasn’t so much deciding on Illinois that made the process so arduous.
For Rolder, it was choosing a sport.
He loves football, and if the Power Five conferences start knocking on his door, Rolder confirmed he will definitely listen to any overtures.
“I’m still not entirely sure I want to give up football,” he said. “I love both sports.”
In most any other season, Rolder would have been up on varsity as a sophomore. The RedHawks, however, had good depth at linebacker.
So Rolder stayed focused and continued to hone his craft.
“He just kept working hard and got better,” Dawczak said. “He didn’t complain. He just kept dominating on the sophomore team.
“What really jumped out to us on the film is how he can lean and continue to accelerate while he’s rushing the passer. Not many kids can do that.”
Notmany kids can excel in the classroom like Rolder, either. He has a 5.44GPA on a 5.0 scale.
Rolder attributes his academic success to his parents.
“They always pushed me to get my homework done before I could play any sports,” Rolder said. “That was always the top priority.”
Although the high school baseball season was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Rolder developed his skills with his travel team during the summer and fall.
“I worked on becoming a more disciplined hitter,” he said. “Waiting for my pitch and doing something with it.”
With football postponed until February, Rolder has been limited to increasing his strength and stamina.
He has been itching to get back on the field.
“I like to let my play do the talking,” he said. “I like to fly under the radar. Nobody expects big things fromyou and then you shock people when you actually do it. That makes it even more gratifying.”