The motto that James “Beetle” Bolden lives by is a simple one, but one that he plays with every day, shown by his 18 charges taken and 18 floor dives this season, which rank second and third on the team, respectively.

Heart over height.

“It’s being bigger than what you are out there on the court,” said Bolden, who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 160 pounds. “Having a bigger heart, being able to fight with people that you might outmatched with. You just have to dig down and have that dog in you.”

A graduate transfer from West Virginia, Bolden’s high energy was one of the first things that coach Nate Oats noticed when Buffalo, coached by Oats at the time, faced West Virginia in the opening game for the 2018-19 season.

Bolden scored 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting against Buffalo but left the game due to injury late in the second half. After he went to the bench, Buffalo erased an 8-point deficit and ended up winning the game in overtime, 99-94.

“I thought we needed shooting,” Oats said of Bolden’s recruitment. “He was one of the best shooters in the country over his first three years at West Virginia. I also wanted some toughness about us and I thought that he brought that in.”

While the transition between Morgantown and Tuscaloosa was easy, the road since Bolden has arrived at Alabama has not been a smooth one.

Prior to the season, he underwent shoulder surgery, which resulted in him missing a majority of the preseason practices. Then he suffered a bone bruise against Rhode Island on Nov. 15, causing him to miss the following game against Furman, and missed the Stephen F. Austin game nearly a month later to allow his wrist to fully heal.

During the heart of conference play, a gastrointestinal illness caused Bolden to miss two games and lose 10 pounds in just one week.

But having faced adversity growing up, Bolden has brought in an optimistic mindset for his situation and also other player’s situations as well.

“That’s what you have to think about when you go through these hard times in college basketball,” Bolden said. “There’s people out there that are really struggling in real life, fighting for food. When you think about that and think about what we are going through here, I’d much rather go through it here than out there.”

Another player that has been through a similar injury situation is Bolden’s roommate, redshirt freshman Javian Davis. Both players had to sit out their freshman seasons, with Bolden having an ACL injury his freshman season at West Virginia and Davis having a knee injury last season.

Davis said that the two often joke with each other and bring a positive light to tough situations.

“I don’t think I have ever seen Beetle down a day since he’s been here,” Davis said. “He is always uplifting, always high. I’ve never seen him down. So I feel like he always keeps a positive energy around us and around the team and coaches.”

As the lone senior being honored on senior night on Tuesday against Vanderbilt, Bolden still has time to cement his legacy with the Crimson Tide currently on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament.

Even though he averages 8.1 points per game, ranking sixth on the team, he has embraced the role of being the “spark plug,” as he describes it, off the bench with the confidence and leadership that he brings onto the court.

“I think he has been playing his best basketball for us right now, which is great to be doing at the end of your senior year,” Oats said. “Hopefully, we can get on a run here and he can get some wins going out of his senior year. The whole blue-collar mentality we are about — he embodies it.”