"Ted felt like he wanted to be with his teammates at Kentucky," said Tom Bolser, Ted's father, on Sunday. "Even though we had paid for it and signed up (at Purdue), we came to Kentucky."
Only problem was that somehow Indian Hill was not one of the 40 teams entered in the passing tournament. Fortunately for Bolser, UK coaches found a way to fit them into the tournament - but that surely was not a sign that the UK staff couldn't wait to see Bolser play.
"If they didn't even realize our team was going to be there, I didn't see any way he was going to get many looks (from the UK coaches)," Tom Bolser said.
Looks like he made it impossible not to notice with his athleticism and soft hands. If the ball was near him, he caught it.
Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks noticed. So did offensive coordinator Joker Phillips. Next quarterback coach Randy Sanders came by to watch.
If the attention bothered Bolser, who had 600 yards receiving as a sophomore and over 1,000 last year, it didn't show.
"We are not really people that follow stats. He wouldn't even know how many yards he has," Tom Bolser said of his son. "He's very humble. He's the ultimate team player and I'm sure he wasn't even paying attention to who was watching."
After Indian Hill played its third game, Brooks had Ted Bolser and his coach come to him to talk. A few minutes later Tom Bolser arrived.
That's when Brooks surprised both the player and his father with a scholarship offer. The talented tight end got a similar offer when he went to Louisville's camp, but he stayed an extra day after the passing camp and the call with his first scholarship offer came after he left campus. The UK offer came midway of the passing tournament.
"I never thought about anything coming so quickly," Tom Bolser said.
The offer made a big impression.
"The Southeastern Conference is special. He's also being recruited by IU (Indiana), but the only thing better than the Big Ten as far as fan base and media coverage is the SEC. We consider the SEC the pinnacle of football."
His mother, Toni, didn't make the trip to Lexington. However, she made it clear Sunday she was ecstatic with the news when her son called.
"We were very, very happy with the offer. Teddy came home and told me and I was so proud," she said. "We are putting the decision about where he goes in his court. Education is important. He has asked us a lot of questions, but coming home from UK he was very excited. He liked the campus, the coaches and the facilities.
"We do plan on going back down there. I want to talk to them to see how they can guide him and see to it that he gets the best grades and education possible. But this is exciting news for us."
He's also a standout lacrosse player and has already turned down a scholarship in that sport from Maryland. He was also a talented basketball player until giving up the sport this year.
Ted Bolser likely will make a decision about his collegiate future this summer.
"Actually, we would like to get all this behind us before the school year starts so we can concentrate on his academics," Tom Bolser, a teacher at Covington Holmes High School, said. "He is a homebody. He does not want to go too far away too school. That's one reason he blew off Purdue because it is 3 1/2 hours away. That doesn't sound that far, but it is for him. And it turned out to be a pretty good move not going to Purdue because now he has a SEC offer and that is very, very special."
