Brian Bowen II (born October 2, 1998) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who last played for the Iowa Wolves of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA D ...

. He originally committed to play

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East C ...

but was suspended by the team after a national college basketball corruption scandal which alleged that his family accepted payments in exchange for his choice to attend Louisville. He later tried to play for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

, but due to an NCAA ruling, he removed himself from college and the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

altogether. Nicknamed "Tugs", he was named a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...

as a senior in high school in 2017.

High school career

20170329 MCDAAG Brian Bowen II moves toward the paint

Bowen played at

Arthur Hill High School Arthur Hill High School is a public high school in Saginaw, Michigan, United States. It serves students in grades 9-12 as one of three high schools in the Saginaw Public School District. History The school was named after a successful lumb ...

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greate ...

, before transferring to La Lumiere School in

La Porte, Indiana La Porte (French for "The Door") is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was estimated to be 21,341 in 2022. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, India ...

, in 2015. He had three points in the 2017 McDonald's All-American Boys Game. As a senior at La Lumiere, he had averaged 22 points per contest, while leading his team to a national championship at the Dick's Sporting Goods high school tournament. In the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic, he scored a game high 26 points, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, and was named co-MVP.

College recruiting

Bowen was the last five-star recruit in the class of 2017 to announce his college commitment. It was announced on June 3, 2017, that he would be enrolling at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. He reportedly also had offers from

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, DePaul and Creighton on the table. In September 2017, a

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

investigative report into a college basketball corruption scandal made an ostensibly anonymous reference to alleged payments to the family of a student-athlete named only as "Player-10" who was recruited by an institution named only as "University-6". That university was described in such a way that it could only have been the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one ...

. Player-10's signing was reportedly announced on or about June 3, 2017, and Bowen was the only Louisville player whose signing was in fact announced on or about that day. At the end of the summer, he enrolled in classes and began participating in preseason team activities as scheduled. On September 27, 2017, Louisville coach

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA ...

and athletic director

Tom Jurich Thomas M. Jurich (born July 26, 1956) is a former American college sports administrator and former football player. He previously served as the vice president and director of athletics at the University of Louisville. He was hired at the Universi ...

were placed on administrative leave, and eventually dismissed. On the same day, Bowen was also suspended from all team activities, but he continued to be enrolled in the school and he still had his scholarship. On November 3, 2017, Bowen was cleared by the FBI. On November 22, 2017, Louisville announced that Bowen will not play or practice for the team. Academically, he was still a student in good standing at the time. On January 10, 2018, University of South Carolina coach Frank Martin announced that Bowen had enrolled at the university and would join the Gamecocks' basketball program. The university anticipated that Bowen would have to sit out the next two semesters, due to NCAA transfer regulations, meaning he would be able to begin playing within January 2019. However, on April 18, 2018, Bowen announced his intentions on entering the

2018 NBA Draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

, with him later being one of 69 players to enter that year's NBA Draft Combine. He would do so without hiring an agent, meaning he originally planned to return properly, but only if his confirmation on his transfer would be approved by the May 30 deadline. However, by that point in time, he had heard from the NCAA that he would have been forced to sit out for at least another season due to the combination of alleged benefits that were given to his family back when he committed to Louisville and his transfer soon afterward to South Carolina. As a result, he officially announced his entry for the 2018 NBA Draft that day instead of returning to college. However, on the June 11 international deadline, Bowen announced his withdrawal from the 2018 draft, which would allow him to either play in the

or overseas professionally before potentially returning in a future NBA Draft.

Professional career

Sydney Kings (2018–2019)

After withdrawing from the

during the final entry deadline, Bowen made the decision to forgo college and pursue a professional contract. On August 7, 2018, Bowen signed with the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

of the Australian NBL. During the

2018–19 NBL season The 2018–19 NBL season was the 41st season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams have contested the league. The regular season had been played between October 2018 and February 2019, followed ...

, he played in 30 games while averaging 6.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. At the season's end, Bowen became automatically eligible for the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

Indiana Pacers (2019–2021)

Bowen was not selected in the 2019 NBA draft. On July 1, 2019, Bowen signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...

and their G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Bowen averaged 16.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the G League. On November 29, 2020, the

announced that they had re-signed with Bowen to a

. On April 23, 2021, the Pacers waived Bowen. Bowen later filed a lawsuit at the

United States District Court for the District of South Carolina The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (in case citations, D.S.C.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of South Carolina. Court is held in the cities of Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charle ...

against Adidas and others who he claimed derailed his NBA career, but the case was dismissed on May 26, 2021.

Iowa Wolves (2021–2022)

On September 20, 2021, Bowen signed with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. However, he was waived prior to the start of the season. On October 26, he signed with the Iowa Wolves as an affiliate player. On March 10, 2022, he was waived.

Career statistics

NBA

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

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, 6, , 0, , 2.5, , .250, , .000, , 1.000, , .5, , .0, , .0, , .0, , .5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 12, , 1, , 3.8, , .286, , .000, , 1.000, , .8, , .0, , .0, , .1, , .8

NBL

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Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, 28 , , 3 , , 15.5, , .462, , .351, , .788 , , 3.0, , .6, , .3, , .1, , 6.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 28 , , 3 , , 15.5, , .462, , .351, , .788 , , 3.0, , .6, , .3, , .1, , 6.5

References

External links

*
ESPN profile

Scout.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Brian 1998 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball players Basketball players from Michigan Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Indiana Pacers players Iowa Wolves players La Lumiere School alumni McDonald's High School All-Americans Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Saginaw, Michigan Sydney Kings players Undrafted National Basketball Association players United States men's national basketball team players