Rollingson made his mark

trevor.kenney — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Once a fiery competitor with a burning desire to win on the court, Dr. Tim Rollingson (BSc '99) has turned in his hardwood high-tops for the white coat and drill of a dentist's office.

Utilizing that same passion and discipline that made him successful on the court, Rollingson turned his focus to establishing a similarly successful dental practice, located only minutes from the campus he called home for five years.

"I developed an understanding of the discipline that is required to become an expert in a field," says Rollingson about his time playing for the Pronghorns men's basketball team. "Spending hundreds of hours on a task became routine, rather than obscure."

Rollingson was the featured speaker at last spring's Pronghorn annual awards banquet, and it is very apparent how important his time with the Pronghorns still means to him. Reminiscing about his playing days, he delivered a message about discipline, establishing lasting friendships and giving back to the Pronghorn family that had given him so much.

Former Pronghorns guard Tim Rollingson in action against the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan.

"I developed true and life-long friends. Competing together creates priceless bonds and memories," says Rollingson. "Even after not seeing a teammate for several years, you still feel as close a bond to that person as you ever did. One of my favourite things to do is go out with a teammate and his family to catch up and reminisce about old times."

A southern Alberta product, Rollingson walked onto the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge campus in 1992 with an impressive list of credentials. He was the three-time Southern Alberta High School Basketball League scoring champion and two-time league MVP with Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge, and still maintains the league single season scoring average record of 40.5 points per game.

During his freshman season with the Horns, he did not disappoint, becoming the first Pronghorn men's basketball player to win the Canada West Rookie of the Year award.

After a two year Latter Day Saints mission in Belgium, Rollingson returned to the program, captaining the 'Horns for his final three seasons. He left the program as the all-time Pronghorns assist leader with 374. While he now sits second on the career assist list, he remains among the top 15 in a number of other career categories, including hitting 150 three-point baskets, the second most in team history.

After completing his bachelor of science (biochemistry) at the U of L, Rollingson earned his doctor of dental surgery degree at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta in 2004 and returned to Lethbridge to begin his successful practice.

Rollingson enjoys continually learning and keeping up to date with the latest dental techniques and has completed many continuing education courses. He continues to study at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, and the Scottsdale Center for Dental Learning.

Now a father of four and a prominent member of the Lethbridge community, Rollingson has become a fixture in the stands at not only Pronghorn basketball games, but the hockey arena as well. He's commonly known as the "official dentist" of Pronghorn Athletics.

While his support for the current crop of Horns athletes is exceptional, it is not the only way in which he is impacting the community. As a coach and mentor, Rollingson is now passing on his expertise and passion to the next generation of basketball players, coaching girls' teams in the Lethbridge minor basketball system.

"I feel a true sense of being a member of the Pronghorn community and a need to pay back to the program, at least in some small part, for some of the benefits that I received," he says. "I truly enjoy my continued association with "my" team."

This story first appeared in the January edition of the Legend. For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - dental surgery

Rollingson made his mark

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