Background
He is the son of an American former pro basketball player, and moved to the United States as a senior in high school. Bolden was born in Melbourne, Victoria, to Bruce Bolden and Marie Yacoub.
He is the son of an American former pro basketball player, and moved to the United States as a senior in high school. Bolden was born in Melbourne, Victoria, to Bruce Bolden and Marie Yacoub.
In December 2013, Bowen chose to play college ball at University of California, Los Angeles over Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, University of Southern California, and SMU.
A highly-ranked college recruit, Bolden was ineligible to play with University of California, Los Angeles in his freshman year in 2014-2015 after the National Collegiate Athletic Association (National Collegiate Athletic Association) ruled him a partial-qualifier due to his transferring as a high school senior. He played for the Australia national under-19 basketball team in the International Basketball Federation Under-19 World Championship in 2013. Jonah Bolden played at Homebush Boys High School in Homebush, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, before moving to the United States in 2013 to play as a senior at Findlay College Preparatory, a private preparatory school in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas.
However, his high school eligibility expired after his first semester and he transferred midseason to Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
A consensus four-star recruit, he was listed as the Number. 25 player in his class by Scout.com, Number.
32 by Rivals.com, and Number. 69 by Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.com, while also being ranked as the Number.
5 power forward by Scout.com.
Bolden was a redshirt in his freshman year at University of California, Los Angeles after he was ruled ineligible to play in 2014-2015. Before the season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association declared him a partial-qualifier, stemming from his transfer from Australia when his senior year in high school has already began. In January 2015, he was cleared by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to practice with the Bruins.
In May, he underwent arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee that was expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks.
A 6-foot-10-inch (208 m) guard capable of playable either forward position, Bolden entered 2015-2016 as the Bruins" projected replacement for wing player Norman Powell and combo forward Kevon Looney, who both moved on to the National Basketball Association (National Basketball Association). However, his college debut was delayed after he violated unspecified team rules and was held out of University of California, Los Angeles"s season opener, an 84–81 upset loss to Monmouth.
20 Gonzaga. University of California, Los Angeles coach Steve Alford inserted him into the game to guard a hot Kyle Wiltjer, who finished with 20 points but shot only 4 of 12 for the remainder of the game.
Tony Parker had the initial defensive assignment, but Bolden provided more athleticism and mobility. While he emerged as University of California, Los Angeles"s top player off the bench, Bolden"s impact on offense was minimal.
After University of California, Los Angeles struggled on defense while starting 3–5 in their Pac-12 Conference schedule, Alford believed their front court was "slow" and moved Bolden into the starting lineup at power forward in place of Parker against Washington State. Bolden played for the Australia national under-19 team at the 2013 International Basketball Federation Under-19 World Championship in the Czechoslovakian Republic.
He played in eight of the nine games that Australia competed in, averaging 2.6 points while playing 10.1 minutes per game.