LHHS Wildcat two time All-District running back, Desmond Roland, recently committed to play college ball at Oklahoma State University.

I caught up with the Wildcat’s featured offensive weapon to discuss his college choice, as well as his goals for his senior season.

A big part of Roland's decision was his level of comfort with the coaching staff at OSU. In particular, the new Offensive Coordinator, Dana Holgorsen, and his familiarity with the offense he's looking to implement with the Cowboys.

“I visited OSU a couple times and really liked their facilities," says Roland. "The more I talked with the coaches, and got a better idea of how I’d be used in their offense, the more I liked it."

"Once I understood how they planned on using me in the offense, it made the decision pretty easy."

"The offense they're going to run is nearly the same offense we run here at Lake Highlands, so they plan on using me as both a wide receiver and running back."

Roland held down nearly a dozen offers from major D1 programs, but high on his list prior to committing to OSU were also Arkansas and TCU.

Besides the familiarity with the Cowboys offense, another factor in Roland’s decision to commit to Oklahoma State was the fact he’ll be joining longtime friend and fellow OSU commit, Lyndell Johnson, in Stillwater.

"Lyndell is a good friend. We’ve known each other for a long time," says Roland. "We talked a lot about playing together in college, so it’s nice to have that chance."

As far as the timing of his commitment to OSU, Roland says getting the decision out of the way before the start of the school year was important.

"Committing before the season started, to get it out of the way, has taken a lot of pressure off. I’m getting a lot less calls from coaches and Rivals and places like that."

"Arkansas is still calling though."

While Roland’s commitment is over and done with, official visits are still an option.

"I’d like to go see Oregon and Miami," Roland says. "I’m solid to OSU, though."

After accumulating nearly 1,700 all purpose yards last year, Roland has lofty goals for himself and the Wildcat team for his senior campaign.

"First of all, we want to win District and take it from there," he says. "Personally, I’d like to be All-District and Offensive MVP. I’ve got to work hard and be consistent, but if I can build on last year’s numbers, anything is possible."

Coming off a season in which he battled a hip injury nearly the entire season, Desmond has worked hard to get himself healthy.

"Yeah, man. I’m healthy and ready to go. My hip is 100%."

As far as the 'Cats head coach is concerned, Scott Smith is elated for his star running back.

"Desmond has worked really hard to get to this point, and we're all really excited for him," Smith said. "OSU is a great fit for Desmond, and I couldn't be happier for him. I know he's glad to have the decision out of the way and is ready to get down to the business of playing football."

---

Get your first look at Roland and the rest of the 2010 Wildcats this Friday morning at the Boneyard when they scrimmage South Garland. Kick-off is set for 8:30 a.m.

As a reminder, our new LH Broadcast Center is up and running, and we’ll be broadcasting all the Wildcat football games LIVE right here on LH Today.

Chip Waggoner and David Hardt will be calling the games. Trevor Atkins, Woods Norcross and yours truly will be assisting in the production, which will include a live game tracker, game stats and pictures.

Look for articles and post-game stats from Danny Meisenheimer.

See you at the Boneyard!

GO 'CATS!