Should a High School Athlete’s Future Be Based On His Dad’s Bad Decisions?

A look at a college recruit and the downfall of a Hall of Fame coach.

brian bowen
Brian Bowen of the Kings goes for the rebound during the NBL pre-season match between the Illawarra Hawks and the Sydney Kings at WIN Entertainment Centre. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
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When Brian Bowen Jr. was in high school, he was one of the top basketball players in the senior class of 2017. His father, Brian Bowen Sr., was also a basketball player in high school, and groomed his son for the game almost from birth. His father was a good coach, and laid out a plan for Bowen Jr.’s future. And for a while, it seemed like that plan was taking shape. But then, everything changed.

On Oct. 1, at a federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, the first of three scheduled trials will begin in criminal cases involving bribery and other dirty dealing related to college basketball recruiting, reports The New York Times. According to the government’s case, prosecutors claim that Bowen’s family was promised money in return for Bowen agreeing to play at the University of Louisville. The government says $100,000 is what it took to lure Bowen to Louisville and its Hall of Fame coach, Rick Pitino. Only $19,500 was actually paid to anyone, and Pitino was fired in the wake of the investigation’s disclosure, but has not been charged with a crime. The scheme is also said to involve an executive at Adias.

Brian Bowen Jr. is not a defendant, but appears to have been a bystander. But the affair could be costing him his basketball future. At only 19-years-old, Bowen was a “hoops pariah” writes The Times. 

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