MACOMB TWP. – Every kid that plays sports at one time or another dreams big.
Ryan Rollins sure did.
Now, the Macomb Dakota grad is living the dream that so many have pictured and how few athletes ever have those dreams realized.
Rollins has climbed the charts from being a quality player in suburban Detroit to the University of Toledo and now the NBA, where the 6-foot-4, 180-pound point guard has now suited up for four NBA teams and really elevated his game during the 2025-26 campaign.
Patience and perseverance – and the chance to finally shine.
RISING UP THE CHARTS
Man, can Ryan Rollins score.
“I honestly believe if he didn’t get hurt his freshman year that he would be our all-time leading scorer,” beamed Paul Tocco, Macomb Dakota High School’s veteran boys basketball coach who coached Rollins from the 2016-17 season through the 2019-2020 campaign. “He had an injury his freshman year, otherwise he would have played a ton that season and would have been one of our top scorers as a freshman. There’s no doubt that he would own a few school records for us if not for that injury.”
Rollins grew up in the sprawling neighborhoods around Macomb Township, attending Cheyenne Elementary School and Seneca Middle School just down the road from Dakota High School.
Ryan Rollins was somewhat of a standout scorer on his AAU teams while growing up and did so in middle school as well.
He made the Dakota varsity for the 2016-17 season, a year where even though Rollins’ injury prevented him from making an impact, the Cougars still finished 20-4 overall and won the Macomb Area Conference Red Division title at 10-0. His team also captured a Division 1 district championship before falling to eventual state champion Clarkston (68-48) in the regional semifinals.
Rollins’ impact really came during his sophomore campaign, where he earned All-MAC Red Division and All-Macomb County Second Team status amongst his numerous postseason accolades. He was also All-State Honorable Mention his sophomore campaign where he averaged 23.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals a game for a team that repeated as MAC Red champs (9-1) and finished 17-8 overall.
The Cougars’ journey ended this time in the regional semifinals against Warren De La Salle (56-51).
Rollins’ junior year again saw solid numbers across the board, as he averaged 21.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals an outing, again making All-State Honorable Mention by both the Detroit News and Free Press. He also was a repeat All-MAC Red Division standout who was elevated to the All-Macomb County First Team Tier 1 and started to pick up some college interest.
Dakota lost in the district finals to Anchor Bay that season (54-49) to stall out a potential deep run while his team finished second in the MAC Red (7-3) during the regular season.
As a senior, Rollins became a composite 444th-ranked prospect nationally, but far from interest from major schools across the country. He led Dakota to another fine season at 18-3 overall which included a third conference championship during his four years and the school’s sixth in seven seasons at 9-1 in the MAC Red. The Cougars advanced to the district finals to face Port Huron Northern, but the remainder of the tournament was postponed and never resumed due to the Covid precautions.
Rollins’ numbers saw him average a Macomb County-best 25.5 points a game to go along with 9.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals an outing – all as a multi-dimensional point guard.
KEVIN LOZON — FOR THE MACOMB DAILY
Macomb Dakota”s Ryan Rollins was a three-time All-Conference, All-Macomb County and All-State basketball player while with the Cougars. (GEORGE SPITERI — MediaNews Group, file)
“I always said that team had a lot of potential of making a deep run,” offered Tocco. “The tournament ended up being cancelled and we’ll never know. But I know what type of player Ryan was in high school and I know how talented we were that year. It would have been nice to see Ryan lead us to a long run that season.”
Rollins did earn numerous postseason honors after the 2019-20 season, including Macomb County MVP as a senior to go along with Associated Press All-State Second Team and Free Press All-State Second Team while also making the Detroit News All-State First Team. He was also the MAC Red MVP and became a three-time All-MAC performer.
The future was looking bright for Ryan Rollins.
LIGHTING UP TOLEDO
Although Rollins had several colleges looking at him during high school, including NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III and NAIA schools, he ended up signing with NCAA Division I University of Toledo of the Mid-American Conference without much fanfare. Not a then-Power 5 conference recruit, Rollins packed his bags to go 90 minutes southwest to the west side of Toledo and play for the Rockets.
He continued to soar on the court.
During his freshman campaign in 2020-21, it didn’t take Rollins much time to make an impact at the collegiate level. He made the all-tournament team at the Xavier Invitational in the opening month of the campaign while helping the Rockets reach the finals of that tournament.
He didn’t go away, either.
Rollins ended up not only making the All-MAC Freshman Team but was also named the MAC Freshman of the Year that season along with earning All-MAC Honorable Mention status. He was also a finalist for the Kyle Macy award given to the nation’s top freshman.
He ended up averaging 13.7 points – second-best for all MAC freshmen – to go along with 5.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game while shooting 77 percent from the foul line. Rollins played in all 30 games for the Rockets that season and helped them reach the MAC conference tournament finals and eventually gain a berth in the NIT postseason. Toledo lost to Dayton in the NIT opening round.
But Rollins was dressed for success and continued to not only light up scoreboards in Toledo and the MAC, but also light up phones and gain some interest from the next level – yeah, that level.
The uber-talented Rollins came back as a sophomore in 2021-22 and literally exploded. The talented scorer and assist set-up man ended up playing and starting in all 34 games for the 26-8 Rockets who occasionally picked up some AP votes in the rankings.
Rollins aided Toledo’s cause for the Rockets to go 17-3 in MAC play to win the regular season title. As the No. 1 seed in the tourney, Toledo was upset in the conference semifinals by Akron and the hopes of an NCAA Division I berth was quickly dashed away.
Toledo again went to the NIT but a first-round exit to Richmond further derailed some team plans.
Rollins ended up making the All-MAC First Team and later became a Mid-Major All-America selection after scoring 641 points – third most in program history for the first two seasons of a college career – and was just the fourth Toledo player all-time to score over 1,000 points through their sophomore year.
Rollins was the Baha Mara Hoops Nassau Championship MVP that season as well and finished up with 1,051 points after two seasons. He averaged 18.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals a game while he shot free throws at a .802 clip.
He led the MAC with 18 total 20-point games and scored in double figures in 32 of 34 games for the Rockets that season.
Toledo men’s basketball coach Tod Kowalczyk had nothing but positives things to say about Ryan Rollins’ playing career, especially at Toledo.
“Ryan has had a major impact with the University of Toledo men’s basketball program. I’ll be forever grateful for all his contributions to our program and the two championships he won with us,” said Kowalczyk.
THE HIGHEST LEVEL
Rollins decided to test NBA waters after his sophomore year – and rightfully so after putting up impressive collegiate numbers for two seasons.
He ended up staying in the draft and signing with an agent, thus ending his college career.
Rollins was drafted 44th in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks but moments later he was traded to the Golden State Warriors, where he began his professional career at Golden State or spending some time with some NBA G-League teams.
“What he’s done in the NBA has been remarkable, and it also continues to be a positive reflection of the University of Toledo,” added Kowalczyk.
Rollins had to bide his time the last couple of years bouncing around the league.
During the 2002-23 NBA season, Rollins only played in 12 NBA games, averaging 5.2 minutes, 1.9 points and 0.8 rebounds a game. He didn’t set the world on fire, so instead of putting his tail between his legs, he simply worked harder.
Rollins was traded to the Washington Wizards on July 6, 2023, and ended up playing in 10 games for the Wizards in the 2023-24 season while averaging 6.6 minutes, 4.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
He was later shipped to the Toronto Raptors during that 2023-24 season, this time playing in 13 games and averaging 6.0 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists a contest. He was still trying to break the rotation and be given a true chance to shine.
Rollins was on the move again and sent to the Milwaukee Bucks before the 2024-25 campaign, eventually signing a two-way contract in February of 2025. He spent a lot of that season suiting up for NBA G-League affiliate Wisconsin Herd and continued to wait for his chance.
He only played in three NBA games that season for the Bucks, and averaged a scant 4.0 minutes, 1.0 points, 1.0 assists and 0.7 rebounds. Nothing to write home about from the end of the franchise’s bench.
But things slowly improved for Rollins during the 2024-25 campaign. He played in 56 NBA games and averaged 14.6 minutes with 19 starts while posting modest averages of 6.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting at a .487 clip from the field and 40.8 percent from 3-point range as a rotational player.
Finally on March 4, 2025, the Bucks changed his two-way contract into a standard NBA contract and he continued to escalate up the charts.
But this 2025-26 season, he was given his grand chance and returned to his ways of scoring, rebounding, making assists and gaining steals – much like he had done during his youth, high school and college days.
Rollins’ time to shine finally came to fruition this winter.
While the Milwaukee Bucks are only 32-49 entering the final weeks of the regular season and out of playoff contention in 11th place of the Eastern Conference, Collins has slowly climbed the ladder from that suburban kid who didn’t have high college offers into a regular every day NBA starter.
“This does not surprise me because I know how hard Ryan Rollins has worked over the years,” said Tocco. “Here’s a kid who went to elementary school and middle school right down the road to being one of the best players that Dakota has produced, to having a great college career and now into the NBA. I knew it was possible. But it took a lot of hard work and patience.
“I remember seeing him at a young age and he had two hands – he could dribble and shoot and use both hands at a young age. Not many kids can do that,” added Tocco. “And Ryan was also very underrated player. He could also play great defense while he was at Dakota and go get rebounds. He was more than just a scorer.”
FULL CIRCLE
Rollins flew back to Metro Detroit on Dec. 16, 2025, and caught a ride up to Macomb Dakota’s fieldhouse, where he had an unbelievable prep career playing just a few short years ago.
Now 23 years of age – he will turn 24 this July – Rollins came back for a one-night stop and was honored by Dakota school administration where he had his high school jersey retired in front of a near-packed house that evening.
“I never thought that this would be possible,” said Rollins in a brief interview with some media members that night. “I am humbled by all of this.
“You dream of this as a kid, but to go through all of this and to have this (jersey retiring celebration) where you grew up is unbelievable,” added Rollins.
Rollins stuck around for a while into the second half of the Dakota’s 78-51 victory over Utica Eisenhower, taking pictures with young and inspired kids and signing autographs. All of his former high school teammates, coaches, classmates – and more importantly – several of his extended family members and closest friends while growing up were in that Dakota gym that night.
Even Dakota’s current players proudly sported the jersey No. 5 on their warm-up jerseys to honor the school’s first-ever NBA player and a standout who is all over the Dakota top 10 in numerous categories of single-game, season and career school record books.
Ryan Rollins is now a local legend.
“I was in these guys’ shoes once,” said Rollins pointing to the game going on the Dakota court. “I guess this shows that anything is possible if you work hard and never give up.”
Ryan Rollins never stopped working and never gave up his dream as a kid growing up in Suburban Detroit.
Now, he’s living that dream and loving every minute of it.
“I’m blessed,” he smiled.
From Macomb Dakota, the University of Toledo, the Milwaukee Bucks and everywhere inbetween, Ryan Rollins never gave up on his dream and turned it into a reality.