College football coaches were in love with Ky Bowman, but Ky Bowman’s heart belonged to basketball.

Bowman is a freshman point guard at Boston College who scored 30 points, 21 coming off 3-pointers, and a career-high nine assists when the Eagles hosted Syracuse on Jan. 1st. But as soon as two years ago, it seemed likelier that he’d be torching ACC opponents on the gridiron than the court.

The Havelock, North Carolina defensive back and wide receiver was a highly sought-after recruit, a 4-star for 247Sports.com’s composite rankings. As a sophomore, he had verbally committed to the University of North Carolina.

But by the fall of Bowman’s senior year, he decided he no longer wanted to play football and backed out of his verbal commitment to UNC. After decommitting, Bowman received a scholarship offer to play football at the University of Alabama, who at the time of their offer had won three national championships in the prior six years. He turned Alabama down, fully committed to a future in basketball.

“I played football the whole time, just because it was the thing that everybody did,” Bowman said. “I had always loved basketball since I was younger, so I made the decision to switch over.”

Bowman’s mother, Lauretha Prichard, said she was upset at first but recovered quickly because she knew her son was following his heart.

The issue was that college basketball coaches had ignored Bowman for two reasons. He didn’t have as much exposure because he attended football camps instead of basketball showcases, and any coach interested in Bowman realized it seemed foolish that he would drop football to pursue basketball.

It wouldn’t be as simple as immediately committing to a high-major basketball program. At the time of his decommitment from UNC, Bowman had only gotten a scholarship offer from one Division I basketball program: East Carolina University. He needed a lot of exposure in a short period of time.

That came when Bowman joined Team Wall, an AAU team sponsored by NBA star John Wall, that was based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Team Wall brought Bowman to camps and to showcase tournaments in which he played against highly regarded players, giving coaches in attendance a good measuring stick for him.

Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

At the same time, Bowman received help from his basketball coach at Havelock High School, Daniel Griffee.

“I got on the phone,” Griffee said, “And called every Division I basketball coach that I could get ahold of, whether it was mid-major or major … (Bowman and I) broke down a list of teams that he would be interested in playing for.”

Boston College, coming off a 2015-2016 season in which it went winless in the ACC, presented a less prestigious option than the schools Bowman had attracted on the gridiron. But his meeting with BC head coach Jim Christian sold him on the school.

In meeting with coaches from other schools, Bowman heard the similar refrain that he would step right in and be “the man”. It was only in meeting with Christian that Bowman got a realistic outlook for what it would take to succeed at the next level.

“When coach came down to talk to me,” Bowman said, “He was actually honest with me, instead of just telling me what I wanted to hear. All of the other coaches (from schools besides BC) were just telling me stuff that I wanted to hear.”

Christian’s honesty also impressed Bowman’s mother and his stepfather, so he chose BC without much stress.

Now, Bowman says the one thing he misses about football is the trash-talk that took place between wide receivers and defensive backs. Even with those fond memories, Bowman says he knows he made the right decision in following the game he always loved. Christian even brings football analogies into his discussions with Bowman.

“Hey listen,” Christian told Bowman after beating Syracuse on Jan 1st. “You’re the guy. You’re my guy … like in the NFL, when they say you’re the quarterback; we’re going to ride you, and get you better, and keep making you learn, and keep letting you play through different situations.”

Earlier this season, Bowman dyed his hair a bright red color. Bowman says there is no story behind the hair color, just that he had been wanting to try it since he was in high school. If he continues to play at this high level, it won’t be just his hair that stands out to the Carrier Dome crowd.

Published on January 13, 2017 at 4:20 pm

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