A broken leg prevented sophomore forward Kin Bolton from suiting up for the Blinn Buccaneers last season.

But the injury won't prevent him from continuing his college career after he recently signed a scholarship offer from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO). He received his Associate of Arts degree from Blinn College in May.

Bolton suffered a preseason leg fracture that prevented him from taking the floor for the Buccaneers in 2012-13 after leading the Houston area in rebounding as a senior at Waltrip High School.

"It was very unfortunate for our team that Kin was injured in September and never got to help us physically, but all the players looked up to him and he provided us a lot of positive energy," Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said.

Bolton received a full scholarship from USAO and has three years of eligibility remaining. USAO competes in the NAIA's Sooner Athletic Conference and has made five national tournament appearances since 2001, including a national title in 2002.

Bolton became the seventh Buccaneer from last season's team to sign with a four-year program. Darrell Combs signed with Eastern Michigan University, Donald Moore signed with Eastern Illinois University, T.J. Berry and De'Quentin Greer each pledged to Our Lady of the Lake University, Martaveous Smith signed with Southern Polytechnic State University and Marquise Hines signed with St. Augustine's University. Team manager Stacey Strickland earned a student assistant scholarship from Sam Houston State University.

Blinn went 12-19 last season, defeating Coastal Bend College in the first round of the Region XIV Conference Tournament.