'Heart Over Height': James 'Beetle' Bolden Leaves a Legacy Despite Short Time at Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — "Heart over height."

Although standing next to him you might think he is even smaller, six-foot-tall graduate-student guard James 'Beetle' Bolden has gone by that personal motto since his younger days in his hometown of Covington, Ky.

To him, they are words to live by.

"[It means] just being bigger than what you actually are out there on the court," Bolden said. "Having a bigger heart, being able to fight with people that you might be outmatched with — outsized — and you just gotta dig down and have that dog in you."

Now it's easy to see why new head coach Nate Oats wanted to bring him in as a graduate transfer, even if it was just for one year. Heading into Alabama's final regular-season game at Coleman Coliseum, Bolden and the rest of the injury-laden Crimson Tide have had to do a lot of digging down.

Just like with his other stop, it's what Bolden has become known for: playing with a lot of heart.

After graduating from Holmes High School in West Virginia, Bolden suffered a knee injury during his first year with West Virginia, leading to a redshirt. Following that, he had three successful years with the Mountaineers before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in February of his redshirt-junior year (his academic senior year).

Oats recruited Bolden to not only be a leader but to also serve as a model for the 'blue-collar mentality' that he strives for his players to enact on the court.

"He's hard-playing — tough," Oats said. "You see the plays he makes. He's the lightest kid on the team, sticks his nose in there whenever he can.

"That whole blue-collar mentality we're about, he kind of embodies the whole thing."

Even entering practice sessions for the 2019-2020 season, Bolden was forced to miss the first couple of weeks while recovering from shoulder surgery.

"He brings a toughness to the team — an edge — you know he's a fighter," Oats said. "He's been through a lot health-wise since he got here. He had the surgery and then he had the wrist injury and then he had the GI issues. I think he's playing his best basketball for us now."

Despite all of his health issues, Bolden has still been one of the Crimson Tide's best clutch players. While he might not lead the team in many statistical categories, his presence and mentality have had an impact.

When it comes to defining his role, Bolden knows what his is at Alabama.

"To bring energy," Bolden said. "Be that spark plug off the bench. Just to bring confidence to my guys, lift them up when they're down. Just be a leader that I have been and just use my experience to my advantage and teach these young guys what it means to be out there in crunch time and just continue to stay together."

Redshirt-freshman forward Javian Davis, who is coming off a breakout game with his first career double-double against South Carolina, is Bolden's roommate. Davis reiterated the leadership qualities and tough mentality that Bolden emanates.

"He's a good big brother to me," Davis said. "He always talks to me and the team every day so I feel like he's a good leader and a good senior for us."

Davis, like Bolden, was also forced to sit out as a redshirt for his freshman season.

"He's kind of been through the stuff I've been through," Davis added. "He's sat out through injuries and he sat out the redshirt so just kinda teaching me the real stuff of just trying to do it and get better, stuff like that."

Bolden's mentor status has only become more important with each injury setback the team has endured. The strongest message from Alabama's lone senior consists of continuous improvement despite setbacks.

"When you think it's your bad day, just continue to work and put forth the effort," Bolden said. "The work's just going to pay off for itself. Whenever you down about yourself just continue to work and you see improvements."

Bolden heads into potentially his last game in Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday night against Vanderbilt (7:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network), depending on whether or not Alabama receives a bid to the NCAA tournament or NIT tournament.

The Crimson Tide needs to finish out its season 2-0, facing Vanderbilt and then a road trip to Missouri on Saturday. All of this as well as winning one or two games in the SEC Tournament is what Alabama will need to do if it wants a shot at the Big Dance.

But for right now, Bolden is solely focused on the task at hand.

Long after his time at Alabama has come to a close, his grit and tenacity will have set a precedent that will be felt and emulated by the younger players for years to come. Bolden will be the one who Oats points to for helping set the tone and foundation.

When it comes to reflecting on his legacy, the six-foot guard's motto of 'heart over height' rings true in his statement on how he wants to be remembered:

"Just going down as leaving it out there every time I step out there on the court," Bolden said. "No matter if it's a good or bad game, win or loss. I just want to go down as the player that whenever I stepped out there I gave it my all."