Brian Bowen, a former McDonald’s All-American and 5-star Louisville commit, has enrolled at South Carolina.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, the 6-7 small forward will seek reinstatement from the NCAA in hopes of playing for Frank Martin and the Gamecocks.
Former Louisville commit Brian Bowen told ESPN he has been admitted to South Carolina and will seek reinstatement from the NCAA. Story coming.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) January 10, 2018
The belief is that the reinstatement will be for the 2018-19 season.
Bowen was cleared by the FBI after the initial investigation into bribery in college basketball rocked the Louisville program, but after the school announced that he would not play, he was granted a full release.
He ranked as the No. 14 overall prospect in ESPN’s Top 100 for the 2017 class.
UPDATE: South Carolina has announced that Bowen has indeed joined the team.
In an official release, the school states that Bowen will sit two semesters before being eligible to play, per the NCAA transfer rules.
Martin commented on the addition of Bowen to the roster:
“Brian is an exceptional young man and a basketball player with a very high IQ for the game. He brings a high-level skill set to the court and will make an immediate impact on our team with him joining us on the practice courts this week. He is a strong, athletic small forward, who can really shoot the ball and rebound.
Brian deserves a fresh start and I would like to thank our University administration, President Pastides, our Board of Trustees and Ray Tanner for their hard work and guidance in helping Brian become a member of our Gamecock family.”
Lovell’s Analysis
Well, this is certainly an interesting development.
There were a lot of unknowns as to what Bowen’s next move would be after being granted a full release from Louisville, but now the versatile forward is officially on campus in Columbia.
While other fanbases in the SEC are worrying about what this means for this season, it’s worth remembering that the earliest he could play would be after sitting out the two semesters due to NCAA transfer rules.
However, if Bowen does indeed step onto the court for the Gamecocks, he will add quite the punch to a program that’s still struggling after losing key players from last year’s Final Four team.
Bowen is a game-changer on the court, and as long as no baggage follows him from the FBI investigation, he will make South Carolina a difficult team to handle next year.