Christian Roland-Wallace had no way to get to practice.
He was in fifth grade at the time, playing for the Pete Knight Youth Football team in his hometown of Palmdale, California. Roland-Wallace was the youngest of four kids being raised by a single mother. Trina Roland didn’t have a car at the time.
But Roland-Wallace really wanted to practice. He always had been unusually driven and focused, his mom said.
So the 9-year-old walked. This was in August 2011 — “triple-digit weather,” Trina said. The practice field was about 5 miles away. His mother gave him a cell phone. Lugging his equipment in a backpack, Roland-Wallace made the walk. It would take more than an hour and a half.
That walk to football practice was the literal route Roland-Wallace decided to take that day. He never has veered from the path of his ambition, which took him from youth football to the Knight High School varsity to the University of Arizona, where he’s a promising freshman cornerback for the Wildcats.
“He could have chosen to sell drugs or be a gang member or do things he’s not supposed to do,” Trina said. “He remained focused on doing the things he wanted to do to make a difference for himself.”
The way Trina sees it, her only son’s determination comes from wanting a better life than what he experienced growing up. As a single mom trying to raise four children — Christian and his three older sisters — Trina conceded that it was difficult at times. Her son “turned that negative into a positive,” she said.
He found motivation in the struggle.
“My bills were so sky high, there were times we didn’t have lights,” Trina said. “He was doing homework with a flashlight in the bedroom, taking cold showers. I was trying to do the best that I could.”
Trina was working, going to school and trying to manage her kids’ “four different personalities.”
“All of them wanted different things,” she said. “I couldn’t give them what they wanted. However, I was able to give them what they needed.”
Christian wanted to play football. He needed — and received — his mother’s support.
Trina is in a more stable place now. She drives a bus for disabled adults for the City of Lancaster. She’s also a licensed massage therapist, which she does on the side. She previously worked as a medical assistant.
Trina will be among at least 10 friends and family members in attendance when Roland-Wallace and Arizona face USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night. That they’ll be wearing Wildcat colors, as opposed to Trojan garb, is a story in itself.
Feeling wanted and needed
Arizona cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace, bottom, upends Washington wide receiver Aaron Fuller in the first quarter of last week’s game. Barely 18, Roland-Wallace is contributing to a UA defense that’s shown signs of improvement.
Roland-Wallace verbally committed to Arizona on July 29, 2018. Cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin had been recruiting him hard.
A little over three months later, Roland-Wallace received a scholarship offer from USC. He described USC as his “dream school” in an interview with TrojanSports.com. (Freshmen aren’t allowed to the speak to the media under UA coach Kevin Sumlin; Roland-Wallace therefore was not able to comment for this story).
Getting an offer from USC is a big deal for anyone. For a prospect from Southern California, it’s a very big deal.
“USC football — that was the football,” said Chance Tapia, Roland-Wallace’s high school coach. “We didn’t have a pro team out here. Growing up, he watched and cheered for the USC Trojans. When they come in, you’re going to get that kid’s attention.”
Roland-Wallace described the scholarship offer as “a big accomplishment for me and my family.” He had a decision to make. He wouldn’t make it hastily; that’s not his way.
Roland-Wallace always has been inquisitive, his mother said. If he was interested in something, he wanted to know everything about it. Several of his current teammates have noted that Roland-Wallace regularly asks questions. When he reluctantly would cede practice reps to second- and third-stringers in high school, Roland-Wallace would stay on the field, stand next to his position coach and grill him.
So the discussions about where Roland-Wallace would go to college were measured. In the end, one factor gave Arizona the edge.
Trina summarized the main talking point as follows:
“Does USC want you, or do they need you? Arizona, from Day 1, has wanted and needed Christian. That was the difference.”
Still, the final stretch leading up to the Dec. 19 early signing date included some anxious moments for the UA coaching staff.
“He was kind of a hidden gem,” Martin said in spring. “It was a task to keep him hidden. Right close to signing day, there was a lot of activity, let’s just say.”
Roland-Wallace was rated as a three-star prospect. He played for a relatively new high school (it opened in 2003) that didn’t have a history of producing Division I prospects. Roland-Wallace’s buddy, defensive end Solomon Byrd, is the only other player Tapia has coached who has gone straight from high school to an FBS program.
“He was an underrated kid the whole way through,” Greg Biggins, the national recruiting analyst for 247Sports, said of Roland-Wallace. “I just think a lot of schools missed on him. That happens.”
After jumping in relatively late, USC made a hard push toward the end. If not for the early signing period — which went into effect in 2017 — the Trojans might have flipped Roland-Wallace, Biggins believes. Then again, Roland-Wallace was one of several defensive backs USC offered late in the process. He never felt like a priority.
“Chris just didn’t get a good vibe from those guys,” Tapia said. “I was very happy that he went to Arizona. When they were recruiting him, it was genuine. That’s what Chris needed. He needed that family that was going to look out for him.”
Especially since Roland-Wallace arrived on campus having barely turned 17.
Prodigy with a purpose
Perhaps the most shocking part of Roland-Wallace’s story is that he looks like a grown man yet isn’t old enough to vote.
Roland-Wallace won’t turn 18 until Nov. 23. He enrolled at Arizona in January, when he hadn’t yet turned 17½. But his physique already is chiseled — his shoulders broad, his arms thick. He is listed at 5-11, 198 pounds.
“He looks like he’s been here three years,” Sumlin said.
That didn’t just happen naturally. Roland-Wallace’s dedication to his craft included, even in high school, “constantly” going to the weight room, the local gym or his coach’s house to work out, his mother said.
“He was getting ripped,” said Trina. “I was like ‘Whoa, you’re getting huge, son.’ When he first started, he was so little and scrawny. He got bigger and bigger and bigger. I’m like, ‘Lord.’”
“He was power-cleaning and squatting more than the offensive linemen,” Tapia said. “I told him, ‘Chris, we might have to move you to guard.’”
Tapia described Roland-Wallace as a super-competitive yet humble workaholic who never forgot where he came from.
“He always just wanted more for himself,” Tapia said. “He wasn’t going to let anything get in his way. That’s why he took care of business. That’s why he’s now playing in the Pac-12.
“We always talk about everything in life is earned. Chris certainly earned his opportunity.”
It extends to the classroom, too. Roland-Wallace graduated from high school with a 3.5 GPA. He always took care of his academic responsibilities, no matter how demanding his athletic schedule became. (Roland-Wallace also played basketball in high school).
“When he was out here with us,” Tapia said, “you couldn’t find a teacher that had anything bad to say about him.”
Roland-Wallace’s UA career hasn’t started perfectly. He surrendered a touchdown in each of the first two games and lost a jump ball on a deep pass last week vs. Washington. But as Sumlin noted, Roland-Wallace and fellow freshman cornerback Bobby Wolfe face as many ultra-competitive, one-on-one matchups as anyone on the team.
Pro Football Focus consistently has ranked Roland-Wallace among Arizona’s highest-graded defenders. He has 11 tackles, three pass breakups and an interception in six games, including two starts.
Roland-Wallace’s skills will be on display for the first time at the Coliseum on Saturday. It might have given his mother comfort had he decided to attend school a little over an hour from home — instead of 500 miles away. But Trina trusted that he made the right call, because she trusts her son.
“I was very nervous — but also confident, because he’s mature,” Trina said. “I know he’s not going to make any bad decisions.
“Some kids will get in there and fall off, go to this party or that party, drink. He’s not interested in that. He has a purpose. He’s trying to live that purpose.”
