NSU star plays final home game, relishes career

With another bead of sweat rolling down his already soaked face, Nicholls State forward Anatoly Bose rubbed his face clean and got back to work.

Jump shot left corner – swish.

Three pointer from the right wing – nothing but net.

Free throw – clank off the rim. Let’s redo it – this time perfect.

Another drop of sweat falls down Bose’s face and as he stands still to clean it off, his eyes catch the clock on this muggy September night in 2009.

The clock read midnight – Stopher Gymnasium was now completely empty. Bose was putting in his work all alone. He leaves the gym only because he has class the next morning.

Anything to get to the top. Anything to prove the people wrong who said Bose wasn’t as talented as the McDonald’s All-Americans of the world who were playing at prominent programs like North Carolina, Duke and Kansas, among others.

It’s pretty safe to say he’s proven himself right, as 2,000+ points and four successful seasons later, Bose wrapped up his home career last Wednesday in a Colonels’ win against Northwestern State, marking the final home game for arguably the best offensive player in the school’s history.

“I was always motivated seeing those great players on television,” Bose said. “That pushed me. That pushed me to come here some nights at midnight after class – whenever I could get shots up, whenever I could work on my game.”

Fans poured out their support for the Colonels’ standout before, during and after the game. He didn’t disappoint, dropping 30 points and hitting several key shots to spark the team’s win.

“I thought the crowd was just unbelievable,” Bose said. “I got a lot of support from everyone. It’s just fantastic. To win tonight, it’s just a dream come true.”

But it wasn’t always that easy for Bose, who landed at Nicholls as a relative unknown, sliding under the radar of the major programs of the country.

It wasn’t for a lack of production, as he was named to the All-Australia High School squad in 2006, while averaging 22.5 points and 12.8 rebounds per game as a senior at Waverley College in Sidney, Australia.

Despite the lofty numbers, it took a while for that success to translate to the American game at the collegiate level.

Bose admits he arrived at Nicholls not physically ready to perform and was even a bit immature.

From that, he admits he wasn’t ready to give the effort he needed to be successful.

“I was really, really skinny,” Bose said. “I mean, I still am, but I really just wasn’t very strong.”

“It’s crazy because when he first got here, I didn’t think he was all that good,” senior Kellan Carter added. “And then he just totally changed his game.”

Even with his physical limitations, Bose averaged 10.8 points per game as a freshman and then 15 points per game as a sophomore.

But it was during the offseason following his sophomore season that Bose really began to “rev up” his inner inklings to be the best.

With fellow countryman and prior team leader Ryan Bathie having moved onto the professional ranks, the Colonels were now Bose’s team on paper.

That was really all the Colonels’ standout needed to get the big picture.

“I just started working on my game,” Bose said. “I just knew that if I was the hardest working player in college, then who’s going to stop me?”

With the aid of that practice, as well as time in the weight room, Bose has indeed become close to unstoppable, averaging 21 points per game as a junior and 22 points per game in his senior season.

“He’s complete,” Nicholls State coach J.P. Piper said. “He’s defending, he’s rebounding and he’s scoring inside/outside and he’s getting to the free throw line. He’s just a complete player. He’s doing it all. … It’s just great. I’m proud of where he’s at. He deserves all of the credit, but I’ll certainly take some, even though I probably don’t deserve it, just for hanging around him for four years.”

For all his efforts on the floor, the national recognition has finally followed.

Bose filed for the NBA Draft following his junior season, before returning to school. From there, he was also featured on a front page story on ESPN.com early this season – a story that might have sprung from the Colonels’ win against LSU in November.

The senior said he’s taken the recognition in stride, but even he never saw any of this coming on those warm nights in a sweat-soaked practice jersey with the clock grinding closer to midnight.

“No, actually, I haven’t,” Bose said when asked if he anticipated his rise to collegiate stardom. “I mean, I’ve always had goals to beat big-time schools, but to be on the cover of ESPN and all of that good stuff … I [can’t explain it]. I always knew that if you work hard, you’re going to get something. Anything that’s easy to get is really not worth it.”

The next goal on the list for the Colonels is the NCAA Tournament – a dream kept alive by the team’s recent string of victories to make the Southland Conference Tournament.

The outcome of that will be determined this weekend in Katy, Texas.

Last Wednesday was all about a celebration and a proper farewell, as one of the true Nicholls greats donned the white and red for the final time in Thibodaux.

All the early morning shooting has officially paid off.

“You hope in your career as a coach you get to come across guys like Toly,” Piper said. “And some guys never do. I’ve been really very fortunate in my career to have a couple of guys like Toly. And it’s a real blessing and it’s a treat and a privilege to get to coach him.”

Nicholls State senior forward Anatoly Bose wrapped up his home career scoring 30 points in the Colonels win against Northwestern State. CASEY GISCLAIR