Ralph Kim Drollinger (born April 20, 1954) is an American clergyman and former professional basketball player. He led the "White House Bible Study Group", a study group sponsored by 10 cabinet members which held weekly meetings each Wednesday during the first Trump administration.
Drollinger played professionally as a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning two national championships under head coach John Wooden. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1978 NBA draft and played in the league for the Dallas Mavericks.
Drollinger attended Grossmont High School in La Mesa and the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography/Ecosystems. He later received a Masters of Divinity degree from The Master's Seminary.
Drollinger played basketball at Grossmont High School and was the CIF Southern Section MVP, as his team won the 1972 CIF championship as a high school All-American. He was a and center and played collegiately at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He was the first player in NCAA history to go to four Final Four tournaments. He played for two national championship teams under coach John Wooden and after his first season, won the Seymour Armond Award as UCLA's most outstanding freshman. In his junior and senior years he was an Academic All-American.
Drollinger also played on America' World Cup Basketball team in 1978.
Drollinger was taken in the NBA draft three times. He chose to forgo the NBA during those years to instead play with Athletes in Action, an evangelistic basketball team that toured the world and preached the gospel at halftimes and represented America in the 1978 FIBA World Championship. He was selected with the 17th pick in the seventh round in 1976 by the Boston Celtics, with the 1st pick of the eighth round in 1977 by the New York Nets, and finally with the 17th pick of the fifth round in 1978 by the Seattle SuperSonics.
Drollinger was the first Dallas Maverick ever in the history of the then new NBA franchise.
He signed with the Dallas Mavericks in June 1980 as a free agent before they had hired Dick Motta as the head coach, motivated by his desire to attend Dallas Theological Seminary during his playing days. He played in only six games due to a knee injury which led to his retirement from basketball in March 1981. In the Mavs' inaugural season in 1980âÂÂ81, he averaged 2.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Some years later after his retirement, Dr. James Dobson invited Drollinger to play in an early morning pick up game with Pete Maravich. That morning Maravich collapsed in the middle of the game from a massive heart attack. Dobson and Drollinger administered CPR, but to no avail; Maravich was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
He was selected as one of the Fabulous 50 Basketball Players by the San Diego Hall of Champions in 2011.
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