Shaq Roland ‘pretty excited’ about moving on to Prairie View

Roland considered going to Winston Salem State, West Georgia, West Alabama and Coastal Carolina before deciding on Prairie View.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina -- A local legend and would-be USC superstar will finish his collegiate career far away from his home state, and that’s probably where Shaq Roland should have started it, say some of the people closest to him.

Roland will play his senior season at Prairie View A&M, an FCS program 45 miles northwest of Houston, his mother told The State on Friday.

“He’s pretty excited,” Petina Etheredge said.

Roland played in 10 games for the Gamecocks in 2014 but left the team Dec. 23, the day his teammates departed Columbia for the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. It was a quiet and disappointing ending to a career that began with plenty of promise.

Roland was named a PARADE All-American after leading Lexington High to an 11-1 record while gaining more than 2,000 yards and scoring 24 touchdowns as a senior in 2011. He was tabbed a five-star recruiting prospect by Scout.com. Alabama, Florida and Georgia all wore out U.S. 1 making recruiting visits to Lexington, but Roland spurned them and became the state’s fourth straight “Mr. Football” to sign with the Gamecocks.

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