On Wednesday, East Carolina University announced the passing of one of its Hall of Fame athletes, Jim Bolding.
Below is more information from ECU Sports Information.
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Photo credit: Jim Bolding (ECU Sports Information photo illustration)
Jim Bolding, an East Carolina Athletics Hall of Famer, two-time All-America selection and a member of the “Wild Dogs” defense, passed away on Monday, April 20, he was 70.
Bolding came to ECU by way of Jamestown, N.C. in 1973 making an immediate impact on the Pirates defense where he intercepted a then school record seven passes (84 yards) while leading the team with 20 punt returns for 164 yards. A member of the Southern Conference Championship squad, he earned honorable mention all-conference honors and received the Outstanding Freshman Award.
He followed up his outstanding freshman campaign earning the first of three consecutive All-Southern Conference accolades starting all 11 contests where he intercepted a pair of passes (four yards) and returned 17 punts for 110 yards.
Bolding’s junior season was one for the record books as he earned inclusion on three All-America teams (Associated Press/second team, RECAP/second team, and Football Weekly/third team), earned all-conference honors and set three school records, which included interceptions in a game (3 vs. Western Carolina), interceptions in a season (10 leading the nation) and interceptions in a career (22). Helping the Pirates to an 8-3 overall record, he was named ECU’s Outstanding Player after tallying 47 tackles, forcing a pair of fumbles, picking off 10 passes for 51 yards while adding five pass breakups.
The future hall of famer closed out his collegiate career helping ECU to its second Southern Conference Championship in four years after posting a 9-2 overall record and going 4-1 in league play. Bolding recorded 44 stops with two forced fumbles, three interceptions (no yards) and seven pass breaks. He once again earned all-conference honors and was named a Newspaper Enterprise Association All-American, while also being named as an honorable mention All-American by a second media association. Following his career, he was selected to play in the 1976 American Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
Bolding earned is undergraduate degree in business administration in 1977 and later became a high school football coach while working in the telecommunications and agriculture professions. As a four-time letterwinner (1973-76), he was inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995 and was named to the Southern Conference 100th Anniversary Team in 2021.