9/28/2018 basketball Edit

Bowman & Co. build on summer spent with NBA stars

Riley Overend • EagleAction

Staff

A senior at Boston College, Riley is originally from just outside of San Francisco, Calif. He covers football and basketball on campus.

Ky Bowman is no stranger to top talent.

As a heralded two-sport recruit out of North Carolina, the 6-foot-1 guard played for John Wall's AAU team, impressed J Cole with a 45-point performance in a high school playoff game, and later earned an invite to Chris Paul's Elite Guard Camp. Last summer, Russell Westbrook gave him advice about how to keep problems at home from holding him back on the court. And over this offseason, Paul brought Bowman back to his camp as a counselor.

CP3 wasn't the only ex-Clippers star he trained with, though.

Joined by teammates Jordan Chatman, Wynston Tabbs, and Johncarlos Reyes, Bowman flew out to Los Angeles to work out with Pistons forward Blake Griffin and Rockets guard Michael Carter-Williams, among others.

"It was good for me to get the yoga in and individual training," he said, "and also being able to be out there working out with NBA players and getting help from NBA coaches."

At Elite Guard Camp in early August, Bowman went head-to-head against more big names. With Paul watching from the weak-side help defense, the junior crossed up Virginia Tech's Justin Robinson, sending him tumbling to the floor as Bowman cruised into the lane for an easy layup.

"It was exciting," Bowman said. "The whole camp was just good to be around, a lot of competitiveness. It was just good to be out there playing against NBA guys like Jamal Murray, Josh Okogie, Devonte' Graham. Chris Paul played with us, Harry Giles played a game with us. It was good to be around those guys and play against some of the top guards in the country."

Thanks to his experience, the junior is taking more of a leadership role in his third (and likely last) season with the Eagles. Bowman has taken to mentoring fellow N.C. native Jairus Hamilton, the most highly-touted recruit to choose Chestnut Hill in at least a decade.

"I'm just showing him the right way, on and off the court," Bowman said. "Not just trying to show him the aspects of basketball but trying to show him the aspects of being a college student on Boston College campus. Showing how to carry himself and make sure he's doing the right things to further himself on the court and off the court."