Bouncing back: Former Bee POY Dunham of Riverbank transfers to Pacific

The Pacific men’s basketball program has landed another Bee Player of the Year.

Former Riverbank High standout Rolaun Dunham has returned to the Central Valley to pursue his education and dreams of playing Division I basketball.

His transfer from Whitman College to Pacific is all but complete. Dunham says he’s been accepted by the university and will enroll in classes for the fall semester.

“I’m really excited and feel really blessed to get an opportunity to play the Division I level. I feel blessed to be so close to home,” Dunham said on Friday from his home in Riverbank.

“It was stressful leaving Whitman, but I think it’s the best fit for me to be closer to home.”

Dunham will join head coach Ron Verlin’s roster at Pacific as a preferred walk-on and will have to sit out the 2015-16 season because of NCAA transfer rules.

Dunham was a regular contributor during his freshman season at Whitman College, averaging 18.4 minutes and 7.1 points for a team that finished 20-6 and lost in the championship game of the Northwest Conference Tournament.

Whitman is a Division III program in Walla Walla, Wash.

Dunham spent his final night in the Pacific Northwest with friends and former teammates. He was projected to be a starter for the Missionaries, so saying goodbye was tough.

“It was really sad,” he said. “I felt like next year I would have been one of the top guys. The night before I left, seeing my friends, there was a lot of emotion going around. They wished me the best of luck.”

Ultimately, though, the distance was too much.

“I was homesick. That was a big change for me. Riverbank is a very tight-knit community,” Dunham said. “It was difficult to go back to school anytime I came home.”

Riverbank boys basketball coach Jeff Jennings kept close tabs on Dunham and could sense his frustration.

“It was a little far from home. He wanted the opportunity to play for a Division I program, and academics are pretty big for him,” Jennings said. “Whitman was pretty far and UOP has the best of both worlds – athletics and academics – and it’s pretty close to home.

“It will be a good fit for him.”

Dunham was named the Bee’s 2014 Player of the Year and the Trans-Valley League’s Most Outstanding Player following his senior season at Riverbank.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound guard averaged a career-high 18.2 points and 5.8 rebounds as the Bruins reached the semifinal round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV tournament. Riverbank would eventually reach the second round of the Northern California Regional, defeating Santa Cruz in its opener.

Dunham was a four-year starter at the varsity level for Jennings, averaging 14.7 points and 4.7 rebounds. He will be reunited with old Trans-Valley League adversaries at Pacific.

Former Modesto Christian standouts T.J. Wallace and Ray Bowles played significant minutes for the Tigers last season, while 2015 Bee Player of the Year Anthony Townes will arrive with Dunham. Townes also starred for Modesto Christian.

Bowles was a two-time Bee Player of the Year, while Wallace earned all-West Coast Conference honorable mention honors last season after averaging 13 points.

“I think it’s going to be exciting. I know those guys are great,” Dunham said of his old high school rivals. “Hopefully, I can actually get on the court. T.J. is one of the studs in the WCC. Just looking videos on YouTube about the team, you can tell this is his team.”

Dunham wants a stake, too, but can see the traffic building in front of him. The Tigers appear to be overloaded at the guard position. Pacific had seven guards on its 2014-15 roster, five of whom were underclassmen.

That won’t sway Dunham, an honor roll student with an interest in health and exercise sciences.

He’s determined to find his way at Pacific.

“When I had my talk with coach Verlin, he said nothing was going to be given to me. He gave me that urge to work extra hard,” Dunham said. “If I can make an impact even in practice, I’m going to make every guy work extra hard.

“In high school, we had guys like that. Guys that never got much playing time. But every guy worked hard, and it made me work hard, it made me better. So that’s what I plan to do.”

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Bouncing back: Former Bee POY Dunham of Riverbank transfers to Pacific."