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Westtown alum Bolden seeing increased role at George Washington

01/16/2017, 12:45pm EST
By Josh Verlin

Jair Bolden (above) set a new career high with 16 points in a losing effort at La Salle on Sunday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Part of an impressive freshman class for George Washington, Jair Bolden spent the first half of his first collegiate season getting his feet wet, not a stranger to the court but not stealing headlines, either.

Now, as conference play heats up, the Westtown School alum is starting to make his presence felt.

On Sunday, in a 79-69 loss at La Salle, Bolden had his best game yet, setting new career marks in points (16) and minutes (31). The 6-foot-3 point guard shot 5-for-7 overall, including making three of his four 3-point attempts to lead his team in scoring for the first time.

“It feels good, to get out there and help the team in any way I can,” he said. “For me, it’s a lot about defense and being a leader out there as much as I can. Coach has trusted me more and more as the year has gone on, so it’s been good.”

Over the last three games he’s scored a total of 34 points (11.3/game), compared to 29 total over the first 15 games (1.9 ppg). It began with six points in 21 minutes against Richmond on Jan. 8, then continued with a dozen points in 27 minutes against VCU before his individual success against the Explorers.

“He’s getting a better feel for what we’re trying to do offensively, and he’s being a lot more aggressive,” George Washington interim head coach Maurice Joseph said. “Playing better has allowed me to play him through a little more mistakes, and he’s taking full advantage of that and now he’s doing a better job of being aggressive in the paint, making decisions for himself, making decisions for others.

“He’s doing a great job with the minutes he’s been given,” Joseph added.

A Brooklyn native, Bolden spent three seasons at Westtown, helping lead the Moose to the PAISAA state championship as a senior, despite playing most of the season with an injured shoulder.

He arrived at a George Washington program that began the season in turmoil, with former head coach head coach Mike Lonergan removed from his position in September after claims of verbal abuse surfaced over the summer.

Despite that, the Colonials (9-9, 1-4 Atlantic 10) have been a tough out this year, picking up a win at Temple in December and beating top-100 KenPom squads in Central Florida and Davidson as well; three of those four league losses have come against Richmond (5-0), VCU (4-1) and La Salle (4-1).

It’s helped having several experienced upperclassman on the roster, including a veteran point guard for Bolden to learn from in redshirt junior Jaren Sina (9.8 ppg, 2.9 apg), who spent his first two years at Seton Hall before now playing his first season in the Atlantic 10.

“It’s real good, having Jaren,” Bolden said. “He’s like a big brother to me, he’s a great leader. He does a lot of things that I don’t do well very well, so it’s good learning from him, and playing off each other is very good.”

Bolden is only one piece of a freshman class that will be a huge part of the Colonial program over the next three-plus seasons, one of six first-year players on the roster.

Two of those rookies, forwards Collin Smith (6-10) and Arnaldo Toro (6-8), have each started in double-figure games on the season, with Smith (7.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg) putting up the best numbers of any of them so far. A third freshman big man, Kevin Marfo (3.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg), is seeing about 10 minutes per game off the bench.

“We’re definitely learning a lot," Bolden said. "All of these games we’re playing, we’re getting some significant minutes...we’re a pretty tight-knit class, so coming out and the bad losses and the good wins are helping us grow and become better players.”

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint obviously,” Joseph said. “They’re doing a better job, they’re growing together...they’re taking it day by day, which is what we ask them to do, and learning on a daily basis.”


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