Schools continue to track Bouldin

The No. 53 ranked player in the class of 2006 Matt Bouldin has ThunderRidge High School in Denver, Colo., off to an 8-2 start, including a championship in the Mission Prep Christmas Classic, where he won the MVP honors. Because of his size, skill and intelligence, numerous schools continue to track the 6-foot-5, 199-pound point guard.

"Stanford came in a couple of weeks ago, and California and Santa Barbara watched him while we were in California," said ThunderRidge head coach Joe Ortiz. "Ganzaga has watched him practice, and Kansas is supposed to come in January 14th. Texas Tech just called on him, and schools like Boston College, Miami and Florida want to know if he would come out west."

"I tell you, there are just so many schools interested in Matt, it is hard to keep up with it all."

As it stands now, Bouldin's list of schools will get larger before it gets smaller.

"Matt hasn't narrowed anything down, and he really isn't thinking a lot about college right now," said Ortiz. "He is very focused on his high school season, and I'm very proud of him for that. I think it says a lot about the type of person and player he is. There will be a lot of time to think about schools after our season."

In Bouldin's freshman year, ThunderRidge won a state championship. Last year they lost in the semifinals of the state tournament. This year they are on pace to contend for another state championship.

Over the holidays, ThunderRidge won the Mission Prep Christmas Classic with an impressive 55-46 win over Rainier Beach High School and Louisville bound Terrence Williams. In the championship game Bouldin totaled 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Williams went for 16 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, but he also managed 9 turnovers. In the first two games of the event, Bouldin dished out a total of 21 assists.

Although not an explosive athlete, Bouldin has a complete skill package and the size and vision to be a very dangerous point guard. He knows how to use his height and strength to guard quicker players and has a wicked hesitation move to get by quicker defenders.

For the season Bouldin is averaging 15 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.