WOODLAND — Bryce Mulder won’t bite.
Certainly not walking the hallways of Woodland High School, where it’s common to hear “Hey, Bryce” by fellow classmates hustling to their next class.
And certainly not when a person — usually a stranger, Mulder says — wants a photo with the senior. All you have to do is ask, because Mulder doesn’t mind; he’s so accustomed that it’s become second nature to stop, pose, and smile.
Just like ducking under doorways and shopping at specialty stores.
“I’ve grown up with it,” Mulder said, “It’s nothing different.”
Among Woodland’s 650 students, Mulder’s 6-foot-11 frame with a 7-foot wingspan stand out, but so do his outgoing personality and infectious smile.
Woodland athletic director Paul Huddleston describes Mulder, the Beavers’ starting center the past three seasons, as a model student-athlete — a servant leader who helps define the culture of the school.
“He’s a kid who is a basketball star,” Huddleston said, “but is very humble.”
Yet the guy seen as a gentle giant says it’s hard to imagine his life now without basketball, even though he needed convincing to turn out for basketball as a ninth grader.
Now, he’s grown to use his size and elevate his game from a defensive-oriented center to a well-rounded, complete player who recently landed his first NCAA Division I scholarship offer. The co-Most Valuable Player of the 2A Greater St. Helens League is looking to carry the Beavers (15-6) back to the Hardwood Classic in consecutive seasons for only the second time in school history. A victory in the Class 2A boys basketball regional game against Foss of Tacoma (20-5) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Battle Ground High School secures that feat.
Height runs in family
As a 7-year-old, Wyatt Harsh still recalls the signs posted on the basketball hoops lowered for little tykes: No dunking allowed.
Harsh and his young teammates would try coax Mulder, even then the kid taller than everyone else, to ignore the rule and dunk anyway. Yet he resisted.
“But he was able to (dunk),” Harsh recalled.
Height runs in Mulder’s family. His father Jeff is 6-4, and his mother Katrina is 6-0. Older sister, McKenna, a Woodland graduate who played at NCAA Division III Pacific (Ore.) last season, is 6-1.
Also, Mulder’s great-uncle is Jim Marsh, the former Seattle SuperSonics color commentator who played the 1971-72 NBA season with the Portland Trail Blazers and now coaches AAU ball in Kirkland.
For Harsh, now one of Woodland’s senior guards, the camaraderie between him and Mulder extends beyond basketball. The two also are office assistants during the school day, and from time to time, play jokes on each other: who can break the code of silence when entering a classroom, or whose workload can be lighter by pinning more on the other.
All fun and games, of course, Harsh noted.
On the basketball court, though, it’s more serious. Mulder’s aggressiveness — from taking the open shot to pulling down a rebound — is one aspect Beavers coach Andrew Johnson said has helped elevate his game, especially this winter.
It’s a big reason why he’s averaging team-highs in points (17.1 per game), rebounds (10.2), and blocks (3.1), not to mention thunderous dunks that fire up his team or a blocked shot that lights up a crowd.
“He really gets the team going,” Johnson said. “It’s huge.”
That aggressiveness was most evident Jan. 28, pouring in a career night of 42 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks in a win at Mark Morris. The 42 points were two shy of tying the single-game school record of 44.
For Mulder, he knew in an important game against the eventual 2A GSHL champion, he had to be more assertive and needed “something to get us over the edge.”
“Sometimes,” he said, “I’m too passive.”
Not that night.
And to think, he needed convincing to turn out for basketball.
Modest beginning
One of Jason Buffum’s first tasks after being named Woodland’s head coach in the summer of 2013 was to find players for his program.
When Buffum heard of this scrawny, 6-6 incoming freshman named Bryce Mulder arriving from Woodland Middle School, the coach wanted to make sure he suited up for the Beavers.
“I tracked him down,” Buffum said.
At open gyms, Mulder no-showed some of the time. First day of tryouts, however, Mulder was present.
At that time, Mulder’s sport was baseball. He pitched and played first base, yet was on the fence whether basketball was for him. He saw better talent around him, even in his family with both his mom and sister having basketball backgrounds.
“I didn’t feel like it was what I wanted to do,” Mulder said.
But when he scored 17 points in a junior-varsity game freshman year, a light bulb went on after encouraging words from Buffum. He could do this, and with it, came a bigger commitment.
Following a five-inch growth spurt, he returned as a sophomore at 6-11. Always known as a strong defender and shot blocker who averaged 5.1 points a game as a 10th grader, he’s now the Beavers’ top scoring option and averages a double-double.
He’s even worked out with his great-uncle, who set USC’s career field-goal percentage record (51.3 percent) in 1968. Mulder credits Marsh for not only improving his low-post and half-court game, but showing Mulder what it takes to play at the next level.
Today, Marsh is best known for coaching Friends of Hoop, a Seattle-based AAU powerhouse that’s produced NBA players such as Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Zach Lavine, Spencer Hawes, and Martell Webster.
That next level is creeping closer. Last week during the district tournament, Bowling Green became the first NCAA Division I program to offer Mulder a scholarship after watching the senior play in person.
Mulder is even surprised where he is now compared three years ago.
“It’s been cool to watch,” he said.
Only getting better
Now coaching at Ridgefield, Buffum went from crafting an offense that included a 6-11 big man to game-planning to defend against one.
How do you stop a player like Mulder, who not only the 2A GSHL’s tallest player, but one of the state’s tallest big men? It’s tough, Buffum said, but it starts with physicality against the 205-pounder.
“And take away from some of his spots,” Buffum said, “but it’s harder to do that now. He holds his ground.”
Mulder, too, is a match-up problem outside the paint. He can step out onto the perimeter, evident by his 17 3-point attempts this season.
It’s a facet of his game that Johnson, in his first season as the Beavers’ head coach, knows will make Mulder a special player wherever he goes: a big man with a soft touch inside who also has an outside game.
Given the growth the past few seasons, Johnson said Mulder’s potential is whatever he wants to be.
“He will only get better,” Johnson said.
The Bryce Mulder File
- Height: 6 feet, 11 inches
- Weight: 205 pounds
- Shoe size: 15
- Pants size: 38″ inseam
- Most-shopped stores: Buckle, Men’s Warehouse
- Most common questions about his height: “How tall are you?” “How big is your bed?” “Do you have to duck (under doorways)?”
