WILMINGTON — John Bowen set up in the middle of the lane.
UNC Wilmington led by two, and this would be the final play of overtime. The inbounds pass was from under the basket, just to the side of the glass. Rob Burke knew the possibilities of a lob toward the rim.
“I can trust his mind,” the interim head coach said of the former West Bladen High School standout. “He sat for a good 15 minutes, just played four to six minutes at the most for that game. But I trust him enough, I knew we needed his athleticism, that they would throw a lob to the rim.
“I have enough trust to put him in the last play of the game even though he’d been sitting there. I knew he’d know how to switch the screens. I wanted him to be able to leave the floor and knock the ball away at the rim.”
Bowen’s presence, plus a leaping defender on the ball, diverted that inbounds pass to the wing. A long-distance shot missed the mark, the horn sounded and the Seahawks snapped a 12-game skid with a 76-74 triumph.
“I’m just going to keep working with whatever time I do get,” Bowen said. “I’m going to give it my all on the court. As long as we’re winning, that’s all that matters to me.”
The son of Bladenboro’s John and Pamela Bowen went to Belmont Abbey after a career at West Bladen that included three holiday tournament titles, 38 wins his junior and senior seasons, and three trips to the state playoffs. The Knights won 22 games his sophomore year, when he split time between junior varsity and varsity.
“In high school, I was more of a perimeter, guard-type player,” Bowen said. “I really liked to shoot a lot of 3s. Now, I would say I’ve gotten bigger, I like to go inside, be more physical now. I take pride in playing defense now, more defensive-minded than I was back in high school.”
He says he was 6-foot-7, almost 6-8 in high school, “maybe 180 pounds soaking wet with bricks in my shoes,” he adds with a laugh. The weight room was a challenge: about 175 pounds on the bench, 225 in squats.
“Now, I’m about 6-9, 205, and I’ve increased my bench to 235 and my squat to 315. So I’ve definitely made a big improvement in the weight room,” he said.
Burke attributes part of that success to a true strength coach for the first time. He also agrees with Bowen’s prep coach, Travis Pait, that much of it is internal as well.
“John has worked very hard to make himself a valuable contributor at both of his collegiate stops,” Pait said. “John is a fine young man who has made his parents and his school very proud on and off of the court.”
Burke likes his versatility, and Bowen sees that value as well.
“My skill level has just expanded to where I can be more versatile inside and outside, and my basketball IQ has just increased throughout the whole process,” he said. In high school, he added, “We always got after it on defense. I can move my feet a lot more laterally. I can see things happen before that I couldn’t see in high school.”
Bowen says he intended to be a Crusader all four years. But head coach Billy Taylor left after a 23-8 season to become an assistant coach at Iowa with Fran McCaffery, and considering his father’s health, Bowen said he took the opportunity to put his name in the NCAA’s transfer portal to see what could happen with an eye toward eastern North Carolina.
About that same time, Burke explained the Seahawks missed out on a number of recruits. Then they took note of Bowen’s name in the portal.
“We looked at JUCO bigs,” Burke said of the junior college route. “I reached out to his high school coach, we talked, and it was a situation, he wanted to get back close to home.
“We saw him from an athletic standpoint. He’s a big that can move and run. I felt he could stretch the defense, as far as making the shots. John’s mind is a really good basketball mind. He sees the game.”
Burke says he’s adapting to the speed and quickness of other big men in the league. There’s redefinition in his role.
“The physical side will come,” Burke says.
The IQ part is already there, which is why with the program struggling through an abrupt coaching change earlier in the week, and an opportunity to win in overtime at hand, Bowen was one of the five Burke wanted on the floor.
“It was just a perfect fit for me,” Bowen said of coming to Wilmington, though he could easily have been speaking of the game’s final play.
The coaching change last week, when C.B. McGrath was fired and Burke elevated to finish the season leading the team, sent shockwaves through Wilmington and the league.
“We weren’t expecting it, especially during midseason,” Bowen said. “We were just looking to turn things around with Coach McGrath. He was a really good guy. He cared for us, maybe more off the court than he did on the court, and that’s why I respected him a lot, and that’s what brought me here. He was just a man with a kind heart.
“I just really wanted to win with him, but it didn’t work out, and I wish him the best. I’m glad to see us coming stronger, and coming together as a team.”
In Burke, he has a reminder of Pait.
“He brings a lot of intensity,” Bowen said. “And, I really like that. Just brings me back to the West Bladen days. It feels good to have that energy again in Trask.”
He says regardless of Burke keeping the job or someone else being chosen, he won’t be looking to the transfer portal again. He’s a double major in recreation sports leadership, and philosophy and religion. The tassel gets turned next spring.
“After my basketball career, I want to open up a fitness center,” Bowen said. “But, a unique type of fitness center. I want to have it to where I focus on the physical part just as much as the mental and spiritual part, so I will have all the regular physical fitness equipment, like the machines, hopefully a tract massage, maybe some basketball courts.
“And then, for the mental part, I would have an area for brain games, books. For spiritual, I would have therapy, small groups, some Bibles to help people to get closer to God.”
Until then, it’s basketball at the beach. The turbulence of the coaching change will ease as more games are played.
“I found a home here,” Bowen said. “I love it just as much off the court as I do on the court. I’m definitely finishing my career here.”
John Bowen says, ‘As long as we’re winning, that’s all that matters to me.’
John Bowen spent his first two years at Belmont Abbey near Charlotte, then transferred to UNC Wilmington.
John Bowen has grown to about 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds, increasing his numbers in the weight room as well.
When he’s on defense, John Bowen says, ‘I can see things happen before that I couldn’t see in high school.’
John Bowen said Rob Burke was his main recruiting contact when coming to UNC Wilmington. He wishes nothing but the best for former head coach C.B. McGrath, and intends to finish his career with the Seahawks.
Before entering a game against Hofstra, John Bowen gets an instruction from interim head coach Rob Burke.
The play on the floor revved up Trask Coliseum, including former West Bladen High School standout John Bowen (center) and interim head coach Rob Burke. Bowen in his first season with the Seahawks says he’s found a home in Wilmington and looks forward to the rest of this year and his senior season.