Chipola names third women’s basketball coach in three years

MARIANNA, Fla. (WMBB) – Chipola State College announced the hiring of Mitch Rolls as the new head women’s basketball coach on Thursday, the program’s third coach in three years.

The Chipola athletic department released the following statement on Thursday afternoon:

MARIANNA, Fla. – Chipola College President Dr. Sarah Clemmons and Athletic Director Jeff Johnson announced today the hiring of Mitch Rolls as the new head women’s basketball coach. Rolls replaces John Marcum who was recently named an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh.

As the ninth head coach of the Lady Indians, Rolls will lead a program that has won seven FCSAA/NJCAA Region Championships and the 2015 National Championship.

Coach Rolls comes to Chipola following one season at Iowa Western Community College where he led the Reviers to a 33-4 record and a sixth-place finish in the 2024 NJCAA Women’s DII National Tournament. The 33 wins are the most in IWCC history.

Rolls coached the 2023-24 NJCAA DII Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, McKenna Minter, a freshman guard for the Reviers. Minter also broke the school record for assists and was named First Team NJCAA All-American.

Prior to Iowa Western, Coach Rolls led NJCAA DII Labette Community College in Parson, Kansas to a 159-66 record in eight seasons. His last six teams at Labette finished in the top ten of the NJCAA DII Rankings and his 2020 and 2023 teams won the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference championship.

Five of his players at Labette earned NJCAA DII All-American honors, 27 were named to the KJCCC All-Conference teams and he coached 23 NJCAA All-Region VI players. In his time at Labette, 42 players moved on to four-year schools, including 11 to NCAA Division I schools. Upe Atosu, an assistant coach on John Marcum’s 2023-2024 Chipola staff, played for Coach Rolls at Labette in 2017-2019 and moved on to Butler University and eventually Colorado State University.

Rolls played college basketball at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, where he was the starting point guard all four seasons. He was named to the 2009-10 Patriot League All-Rookie Team his freshman year and ended his career as the school’s all-time leader in games played and started. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology from Colgate University in 2013.

Following his collegiate career, Rolls played professionally in the Czech Republic for the BK Lions Jindrichuv Hradec of the Mattoni National Basketball League where he led the team in assists, steals, and minutes played. He was the second-leading scorer while being the team captain.

Coach Rolls comes to Marianna with his two sons, Mitch Jr. “MJ” (4), Maxton Stone (2), and their mother Misty Powelson.

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