Aliso Niguel’s Roll Is Making an Impression

Mike Roll of Aliso Viejo Aliso Niguel has never signed an autograph, let alone been mentioned among the top high school basketball players in Southern California.

Suddenly, fans want to know who he is and where he comes from after UCLA Coach Ben Howland offered Roll a scholarship last week.

“I knew my talent, but I was kind of a low-key guy,” the 6-foot-5 shooting guard said this week. Saturday night, Roll committed to the Bruins, reneging on an earlier commitment to UC Santa Barbara.

Roll averaged 16 points last season for Aliso Niguel, which finished 17-11.

He had received sporadic calls from college recruiters until his performance at a summer camp in Atlanta. After that, the phone started ringing more often.

After his play in a tournament in Las Vegas, more coaches became interested.

“Quickly, he became one of the guys on the radar,” Aliso Niguel Coach Keith Barnett said. “He’s a tremendous shooter. He’s got a quick release and moves without the ball extremely well.

“He’s the hardest worker in the weight room.”

Roll said he was able to make an impression on college coaches because of the little things he did during games and scrimmages.

“I was always playing hard, doing the fundamentals,” he said. “Hustling, diving, just catching the coaches’ eyes. I’m a tough-nosed player.”

Roll provided insight into the scrutiny players experience at summer camps and tournaments.

“Coaches are surrounding the courts, and it’s crazy,” he said.

“Once you get into the flow of the games, you just play. You don’t notice everyone is there.”

Roll won’t need to start wearing sunglasses to hide his celebrity, but he has thrust himself into the basketball spotlight.

Aliso Niguel, with Roll and three other starters returning, starts practice on Saturday.

“We’re going to be good, so it’s going to be exciting,” Roll said.

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It might be entertaining to watch the junior varsity basketball games when North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake plays this season just to see how many points sophomore guard Jabari Trotter scores.

Trotter was a varsity starter last season at Pasadena Poly as a freshman, but because he transferred to Harvard-Westlake without moving, he must play on the JV team this season.

“If he was a big man, I’d be really worried about the competitive advantage he’d have,” Harvard-Westlake Coach Greg Hilliard said. “But there are so many good guards. He’s going to stand out with his skills.”

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Marcus Carter, a 6-4 senior who averaged 13.9 points last season at Claremont, has been given a hardship waiver by the Southern Section after transferring to Etiwanda, clearing the way for him to play this season.

Freshmen guards Dallas Rutherford of Granada Hills Hillcrest Christian and Jrue Holiday of North Hollywood Campbell Hall are going to be impact players at the small-schools level.

In girls’ basketball, UCLA-bound guard Ashlee Trebilcock of Newhall Hart has fully recovered from a severe ankle injury she suffered last July. “She’s ready to rock and roll,” Coach Dave Munroe said.

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Hold off on those predictions that Chatsworth’s state-record 50-game winning streak in baseball could end quickly this spring.

In a recent winter game, the Chancellors and Villa Park battled to a 2-2 tie, with each team displaying excellent pitching. They could be the top teams in Southern California.

On the college recruiting front, first-year UCLA Coach John Savage could sign as many as a dozen recruits on Wednesday, with pitchers Jason Novak of Agoura and Robert Dickmann of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame his latest commitments.

Standout pitcher Ryan Tucker from Temple City has committed to Cal State Fullerton.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.