In Bolden's four years at Texas Southern, he scored approximately 2,000 points and finished in the national top 10 in scoring on two occasions. He was the SWAC Freshman of the Year in 1994–95, and during the 1995 NCAA Tournament he helped the 15th-seeded Tigers nearly upset 2nd-seeded Arkansas, the defending national champions (Arkansas won, 79–78). For his first two seasons, Bolden was a teammate of Kevin Granger, the national scoring leader in 1995–96. For his final two years he earned All-SWAC honors and was twice named the conference player of the year.
