The third Senior Tribute, to the Human Highlight Reel, exceptional athlete and Hoya versatile forward, Aaron Bowen, technically a Fifth Year Senior and part of this significant tribute. A player who unfortunately started his career injured, Aaron has bounced back to become a very important part of this Hoya team, so important, I suggest, that if the Hoyas advance in the BET and NCAA, Aaron will be a critical part of it.
AARON BOWEN: GEORGETOWN 2015
Mr. Bowen, Fifth Year Senior, what were you studying this year? Whatever it was, it has also improved your hoops game. Starting last season I noticed a Hoya alum and female fan who started yelling in the initial minutes of each game, “Put in Bowen, Aaron Bowen, AB!” This fan had very good insight as each time you step on the court you demonstrate why you are so valuable to this team.
Some fans get excited by the promise of the freshmen. Sure, I see the promise and they dazzle at times. But no current Hoya, Mr. Bowen, dazzles as you do on the hardwood. Your former teammate and accomplished point guard, Markel Starks, understood your talent when he said, after the January 26, 2013 Louisville game, in which your heroics upset the Cards, ”I tell l him all the time that he’s probably one of the most athletic people on this planet, and when the shot went up, he just came out of nowhere. … And he just, I don’t know, he just … it was unbelievable.” Coach JTIII may have rolled his eyes when Markel said that but I drink from that very same Kool Aid as Markel.
You arrived on the Hilltop in the 2010-11 season from Jacksonville, FL. You stated that you chose Georgetown for the the education and basketball program. Is everyone expected to say that? 🙂 After attending Wolfson High School, where you averaged 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 57% from the floor, you played a year of prep ball at QEA in North Carolina and helped lead them to a national title, averaging 17.5 points, six rebounds and four assists. So we knew you could score! Then you arrived on the Hilltop only to experience an injury early in your freshman year (2010-11) so we could only guess about your true talent until you appeared in 14 games in your sophomore season (2011-12), averaging 3.8 minutes per game and then we still knew so little about your ability.
Finally, in your Junior season (2012-13), you appeared in 24 games off the bench, doubling your minutes from the prior season, averaging 7.0 minutes per game. What you will be remembered for that season was your spectacular acrobatic game-winner against Louisville in which the entire packed Verizon Center took note of your talent in one two-point score, your only points of the game. Then, while the entire team floundered against the Team We Would So Like to Forget, FGCU (call it what you will) in the first round of the NCAA tournament, you tied your career high with 8 points and had 5 rebounds against Florida Gulf Coast when everyone else on your team looked flustered and ready to pack their bags and study for their next Theology exam.
Last season (2013-14), we saw you in all 33 games. You started showing us your stuff, your Special Bowen Sauce, and yet I felt I saw something that your coaching staff did not see. You finished the season averaging 6.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in very few game minutes, and scored in double figures four times, including 11 points and five rebounds in a win at Butler and 13 points against Villanova with 10 points in the final NIT game against Florida State. I looked forward to seeing much more of you this season when you decided to return for your “fifth year”, that lost season.
I’m a fan first and also a critic and I am disappointed not to see more playing time for you. However, when you are called on by your Coach, you go out there and get the job done, whether it’s to stop the opposing team’s finest player, to grab boards or to get to the hoop for much needed points. Your high arching shot amazes me as it seems to fall in more often than not, though quite unorthodox coming from a player your height. Whether you start or are a sixth man (or 7th), you are a spark plug on the court. You energize this team similarly to one Pat Ewing Jr. did for the 2006-07 Final Four team when he was the best Sixth Man in the league if not the nation. And you have a greater ability to score.
We know you can score and you also have a great shooting percentage, 55% from the field for the year and 35% from the 3-point line. You scored 22 in the win against Indiana at the Garden earlier this season, another quality team. Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otGqoXSxwMM
And remember that female fan I mentioned earlier who starts loudly cheering early in the game, “Put in Bowen, Aaron Bowen, AB!” Admission: that fan is me.
LPP
Senior Tribute: Aaron Bowen #23
The third Senior Tribute, to the Human Highlight Reel, exceptional athlete and Hoya versatile forward, Aaron Bowen, technically a Fifth Year Senior and part of this significant tribute. A player who unfortunately started his career injured, Aaron has bounced back to become a very important part of this Hoya team, so important, I suggest, that if the Hoyas advance in the BET and NCAA, Aaron will be a critical part of it.
AARON BOWEN: GEORGETOWN 2015
Mr. Bowen, Fifth Year Senior, what were you studying this year? Whatever it was, it has also improved your hoops game. Starting last season I noticed a Hoya alum and female fan who started yelling in the initial minutes of each game, “Put in Bowen, Aaron Bowen, AB!” This fan had very good insight as each time you step on the court you demonstrate why you are so valuable to this team.
Some fans get excited by the promise of the freshmen. Sure, I see the promise and they dazzle at times. But no current Hoya, Mr. Bowen, dazzles as you do on the hardwood. Your former teammate and accomplished point guard, Markel Starks, understood your talent when he said, after the January 26, 2013 Louisville game, in which your heroics upset the Cards, ”I tell l him all the time that he’s probably one of the most athletic people on this planet, and when the shot went up, he just came out of nowhere. … And he just, I don’t know, he just … it was unbelievable.” Coach JTIII may have rolled his eyes when Markel said that but I drink from that very same Kool Aid as Markel.
You arrived on the Hilltop in the 2010-11 season from Jacksonville, FL. You stated that you chose Georgetown for the the education and basketball program. Is everyone expected to say that? 🙂 After attending Wolfson High School, where you averaged 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 57% from the floor, you played a year of prep ball at QEA in North Carolina and helped lead them to a national title, averaging 17.5 points, six rebounds and four assists. So we knew you could score! Then you arrived on the Hilltop only to experience an injury early in your freshman year (2010-11) so we could only guess about your true talent until you appeared in 14 games in your sophomore season (2011-12), averaging 3.8 minutes per game and then we still knew so little about your ability.
Finally, in your Junior season (2012-13), you appeared in 24 games off the bench, doubling your minutes from the prior season, averaging 7.0 minutes per game. What you will be remembered for that season was your spectacular acrobatic game-winner against Louisville in which the entire packed Verizon Center took note of your talent in one two-point score, your only points of the game. Then, while the entire team floundered against the Team We Would So Like to Forget, FGCU (call it what you will) in the first round of the NCAA tournament, you tied your career high with 8 points and had 5 rebounds against Florida Gulf Coast when everyone else on your team looked flustered and ready to pack their bags and study for their next Theology exam.
Last season (2013-14), we saw you in all 33 games. You started showing us your stuff, your Special Bowen Sauce, and yet I felt I saw something that your coaching staff did not see. You finished the season averaging 6.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in very few game minutes, and scored in double figures four times, including 11 points and five rebounds in a win at Butler and 13 points against Villanova with 10 points in the final NIT game against Florida State. I looked forward to seeing much more of you this season when you decided to return for your “fifth year”, that lost season.
I’m a fan first and also a critic and I am disappointed not to see more playing time for you. However, when you are called on by your Coach, you go out there and get the job done, whether it’s to stop the opposing team’s finest player, to grab boards or to get to the hoop for much needed points. Your high arching shot amazes me as it seems to fall in more often than not, though quite unorthodox coming from a player your height. Whether you start or are a sixth man (or 7th), you are a spark plug on the court. You energize this team similarly to one Pat Ewing Jr. did for the 2006-07 Final Four team when he was the best Sixth Man in the league if not the nation. And you have a greater ability to score.
We know you can score and you also have a great shooting percentage, 55% from the field for the year and 35% from the 3-point line. You scored 22 in the win against Indiana at the Garden earlier this season, another quality team. Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otGqoXSxwMM
And remember that female fan I mentioned earlier who starts loudly cheering early in the game, “Put in Bowen, Aaron Bowen, AB!” Admission: that fan is me.
LPP