Milan Bolden-Morris Breaking Out In Rookie Season
February 13, 2018 | Women's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
The Florida freshman is averaging 13 points per game.
The book on the 2017-18 Boston College women's basketball team will always be multi-faceted. A season-long quest to lay the foundation and groundwork for the future started with a roster stocked with fresh, young faces.
One of those budding youthful stars is Milan Bolden-Morris. The Florida freshman is the team leader in points per game, having averaged 13 points each time she's on the floor. A 5-foot-10-inch rookie, she's the type of player that combines a shooter's touch from outside with the size and skill necessary to compete among the ACC's elite players.
"There's a difference between a kid who can make a shot or a kid who is a 'Level I' shooter," head coach Erik Johnson said. "Milan is a 'Level I' shooter. She has a pure stroke, and she walked in the door with it. Now it's about making her understand shot selection, footwork, reading screens, things like that. She has a knack for shot making. She's (more than) just a three- point shooter. She has a pull-up jump shot that she can curl off screens because people chase her. She's gotten better at putting the ball on the floor, and her assists-to-turnover ratio is really flipping."
Bolden-Morris is the top of a young crop of Eagles forming the team's new core base. The beginning of the season produced immediate results, but there was also a learning curve throughout the year. An incoming freshman has to develop individual skills, but there's also the steep adjustment to the newfound speed of the game. College basketball is an unforgiving sport built around high-caliber athletes with a singular focus on the game.
"I knew coming to college was not going to be easy," she said this past week. "There were countless hours outside of practice that needed to be added to my day. But it's also a lot of fun. There's a group of girls with the same mentality and same passion for the game, which is a big thing. It's a transition from high school, where there were a lot of girls who wanted to be on the court because of their friends or because their parents influenced them. At this level, everyone's worked hard, and that's a huge difference because it creates the competition and also the love for the game that everyone has."
The Eagles tasked Bolden-Morris with that adjustment from the first game of the season. A starter during the first game against Bryant, she played 35 minutes and scored 11 points. It set the tone for five straight games to start the season in double-figures, including 16-point performances. In a game against Fordham, she shot 6-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three-point land. But after that, as teams began to sense the new player's skill, defenses locked down, and the month of December produced some inconsistent results. Against Seton Hall, she hit only two shots but followed it up with 18 points against New Hampshire. She continued to pour buckets into the cup but struggled against Maine. But in conference play, with only spotty exceptions, she's become one of the team's go-to options. A 17-point, four-assist game against Notre Dame highlights a stretch that ran her season averages to their current levels. She notched her career-high 20 points at Georgia Tech and was named the ACC Rookie of the Week, for the third time this season on Monday.
"She had some problems with turnovers and silly plays early in the year," Johnson said. "Now she's recognizing if a player is flying at her, and she can draw help and kick to someone else."
"We've all been working really hard, and we've had some tough times where wins have been tough," Bolden-Morris, one of four underclass starters for the Eagles, said. "But the one thing about this team is our perseverance. We have a lot to learn, and this season has been an affirmation season and a growth season. Of course, we want to win and we stress winning. That's something we have to improve on. But it's a lot of learning."
As the team continues its growth, it will be buoyed by its budding young star. The Eagles have, at times, started a number of youngsters on the court, including multiple lineups of just sophomores and freshmen. Their collective growth as a team in practice helps sprout an individual's talent, which, in turn creates more opportunities for advancement on both ends of the court.
"I'm so excited to get to the gym every day," Bolden-Morris said. "You walk into the gym and you see the love everyone has for each other and that passion for the game. It's easy to say and harder to do when you're going up against players who are bigger, stronger and faster. But I'm so excited (every day). This is a group of girls that make me feel at home. I have a comfort zone with them. We're all on board, and we all fight together to execute. I'm just blessed to be in that atmosphere and the culture that we're continuing to build."
The Eagles will host No. 4 Louisville on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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One of those budding youthful stars is Milan Bolden-Morris. The Florida freshman is the team leader in points per game, having averaged 13 points each time she's on the floor. A 5-foot-10-inch rookie, she's the type of player that combines a shooter's touch from outside with the size and skill necessary to compete among the ACC's elite players.
"There's a difference between a kid who can make a shot or a kid who is a 'Level I' shooter," head coach Erik Johnson said. "Milan is a 'Level I' shooter. She has a pure stroke, and she walked in the door with it. Now it's about making her understand shot selection, footwork, reading screens, things like that. She has a knack for shot making. She's (more than) just a three- point shooter. She has a pull-up jump shot that she can curl off screens because people chase her. She's gotten better at putting the ball on the floor, and her assists-to-turnover ratio is really flipping."
Bolden-Morris is the top of a young crop of Eagles forming the team's new core base. The beginning of the season produced immediate results, but there was also a learning curve throughout the year. An incoming freshman has to develop individual skills, but there's also the steep adjustment to the newfound speed of the game. College basketball is an unforgiving sport built around high-caliber athletes with a singular focus on the game.
"I knew coming to college was not going to be easy," she said this past week. "There were countless hours outside of practice that needed to be added to my day. But it's also a lot of fun. There's a group of girls with the same mentality and same passion for the game, which is a big thing. It's a transition from high school, where there were a lot of girls who wanted to be on the court because of their friends or because their parents influenced them. At this level, everyone's worked hard, and that's a huge difference because it creates the competition and also the love for the game that everyone has."
The Eagles tasked Bolden-Morris with that adjustment from the first game of the season. A starter during the first game against Bryant, she played 35 minutes and scored 11 points. It set the tone for five straight games to start the season in double-figures, including 16-point performances. In a game against Fordham, she shot 6-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three-point land. But after that, as teams began to sense the new player's skill, defenses locked down, and the month of December produced some inconsistent results. Against Seton Hall, she hit only two shots but followed it up with 18 points against New Hampshire. She continued to pour buckets into the cup but struggled against Maine. But in conference play, with only spotty exceptions, she's become one of the team's go-to options. A 17-point, four-assist game against Notre Dame highlights a stretch that ran her season averages to their current levels. She notched her career-high 20 points at Georgia Tech and was named the ACC Rookie of the Week, for the third time this season on Monday.
"She had some problems with turnovers and silly plays early in the year," Johnson said. "Now she's recognizing if a player is flying at her, and she can draw help and kick to someone else."
"We've all been working really hard, and we've had some tough times where wins have been tough," Bolden-Morris, one of four underclass starters for the Eagles, said. "But the one thing about this team is our perseverance. We have a lot to learn, and this season has been an affirmation season and a growth season. Of course, we want to win and we stress winning. That's something we have to improve on. But it's a lot of learning."
As the team continues its growth, it will be buoyed by its budding young star. The Eagles have, at times, started a number of youngsters on the court, including multiple lineups of just sophomores and freshmen. Their collective growth as a team in practice helps sprout an individual's talent, which, in turn creates more opportunities for advancement on both ends of the court.
"I'm so excited to get to the gym every day," Bolden-Morris said. "You walk into the gym and you see the love everyone has for each other and that passion for the game. It's easy to say and harder to do when you're going up against players who are bigger, stronger and faster. But I'm so excited (every day). This is a group of girls that make me feel at home. I have a comfort zone with them. We're all on board, and we all fight together to execute. I'm just blessed to be in that atmosphere and the culture that we're continuing to build."
The Eagles will host No. 4 Louisville on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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