Laurence Rochelle Bowers (born April 19, 1990) is a retired American professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Missouri.

Early years

A Memphis native, Bowers was born to Laurence Young and Nancy Bowers. His uncle, Arlyn Bowers, was a key member of the 1989–90 Arkansas Razorbacks team that reached the Final Four of the

1990 NCAA tournament The 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I men's college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championsh ...

. Bowers initially attended Elliston Baptist Academy in Memphis as a freshman and sophomore, earning all-state honors both years in both basketball and baseball (as a pitcher). He then transferred to

St. George's Independent School St. George's Independent School was founded in 1959 and now has campuses in Collierville, Germantown, and Memphis, Tennessee. History The school started in 1959 as an Episcopal church day school, serving the Memphis suburb of Germantown. Due to ...

in nearby Collierville, where, as a senior, he led the basketball team to a 25–3 record and the Tennessee Division II State semi-finals while averaging 19.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. In addition to being named all-state for the fourth straight year, he was a finalist for the Div. II

Tennessee Mr. Basketball Each year the Tennessee Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys' basketball player in the U.S. state of Tennessee by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. A Mr. Basketball is named for each of ...

award (won by teammate

Elliot Williams Elliot Jerell Williams (born June 20, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Duke and Memphis. He was selected with the 22nd overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. ...

) and was a nominee for the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

. Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Bowers received scholarship offers from Arkansas, Marquette, George Mason, New Mexico and UTEP, ultimately committing to play for Mike Anderson and the Missouri Tigers.

College career

Bowers played with Mizzou from 2008–2013, finishing as the second all-time leader in blocked shots. Missouri reached the NCAA tournament all five years. Along with Marcus Denmon,

Kim English Kim English (September 6, 1970 – April 2, 2019) was an American electronic, soul, gospel and house music singer. Early life On September 6, 1970, English was born in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. English's parents were Ronald English and Ann ...

, and Steve Moore, he was part of the senior class that won 107 games, more than any other class in Mizzou basketball history. In May 2012, he completed his undergraduate degree in sociology, and later became the first ever Mizzou scholarship basketball player to get a master's degree, majoring in health education & promotion.

Freshman and sophomore seasons

Bowers did not play much his freshman season, averaging 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in just under 7 minutes per game as a backup to seniors DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons. He did, however, score a season-high 16 points against Colorado on January 14, 2009, and scored another 16 points in just 15 minutes on 7–9 shooting in a February 25 home win against Kansas State. The Tigers won a school-record 31 games, won the

Big 12 tournament The Big 12 Conference sponsors championships in 23 sports, 10 men's and 13 women's. The first conference championship awarded was the 1996 softball postseason tournament championship, which was won by Oklahoma. From 2011 through 2016, the foot ...

and reached the Elite Eight of the 2009 NCAA tournament. Bowers later said of his freshman year: "...it was the greatest feeling ever as far as my basketball career." The following year, he played in 34 games, finishing third on the team in scoring (10.2 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.7 rpg). For his production off the bench, he was named to the Big 12 All-Reserve Team.

Junior season

His junior season was Bowers' breakout year; he started 27 games, averaging 11.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. He was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team and honorable mention All-Big 12. In addition to leading the team in rebounding, his 62 blocked shots was good for second in the Big 12 and the third most in school history. He also tied the school record by blocking eight shots against Colorado on January 8, 2011. At the conclusion of the season, he and Kim English both declared for the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting sponsor ...

. However, a month later, they both announced that they would be returning to Mizzou for their senior season. They cited the looming lockout as their reason.

Senior season

Before his senior season, Bowers suffered a season-ending injury in early October 2011 when tore his ACL in his left knee during pre-season workouts. Forced to red-shirt his senior year, he continued traveling with the team, and earned Academic All-Big 12 honors for his work in the classroom. Although the Tigers finished 2nd in the Big 12 and won the

, they were defeated in the first round of the 2012 NCAA tournament by 15-seed

Norfolk State Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...

. In his final season, Bowers averaged 14.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, earning second team all- SEC honors and the team MVP award. He did not participate in Missouri's Summer European Exhibition Tour in August, instead returning during the normal exhibition pre-season games at home. He wore a left knee brace for the first 14 games to protect his repaired knee, and suffered an injury scare in January 2013 when he sprained his right MCL in a game against Alabama. He missed five games, and played with yet another knee brace (now on his right knee) for the remaining 14 games. However, for the third straight year, his Tigers were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament; Missouri was defeated 72–84 by

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

in Bower's final collegiate game. He played 31 minutes and scored seven points.

Professional career

In preparation for the 2013 NBA draft, Bowers moved to

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

to train at the IMG Academy, sharing a room with future NBA player and fellow Memphis native Adonis Thomas. He participated in pre-draft workouts with the Washington Wizards, but was not able to play in the Portsmouth Invitational due to a wrist injury. Bowers ultimately went undrafted. He later signed a Summer League contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. In six games, Bowers averaged 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game, but was waived before the start of the season.

Hapoel Holon

After being unsuccessful in securing another NBA contract, Bowers signed a one-year deal with Israeli club Hapoel Holon in July 2013. He played in 31 games, and helped Hapoel Holon reach the postseason while averaging 12.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest. In the offseason, he returned to

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

to volunteer at youth summer basketball camps, similar to what he did after he tore his ACL in 2011. He also underwent wrist surgery for the injury he suffered during his sophomore year of college. In December 2014, after only seven games back with Hapoel Holon, averaging 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds, Bowers was released by the team in order to make room for the signing of former St. John's player Sean Evans. In April 2015 Bowers rejoined Hapoel Holon after his teammate

Tony Crocker Antonio Lamar Crocker (born January 17, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for Metropolitans 92 of the LNB Pro A. He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. Crocker has had significant stints in Europe and Turkey. A n ...

broke his hand. Bowers remained in Holon until the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs of the 2014–15 season. Bowers started in three of the team's four playoff games.

Orlandina Basket

After almost a year off from basketball (during which he opened his own basketball camp), he signed with Orlandina Basket of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A in August 2015.

Personal life

After his grandmother died in early 2007, Bowers scored 23 points against The Webb School in his first high school game back in her honor. Bowers founded and runs his own company, LBO Sports LLC, which organizes a variety of coed summer basketball camps throughout Missouri and Tennessee.