Heading into his freshman year at Louisville, Brian Bowen II was a 5-star recruit. Ranked No. 14 on the ESPN 100 rankings for the class of 2017, Bowen had no shortage of offers: Tom Izzo from Michigan State, Steve Alford (formerly) of UCLA, and yes, Louisville’s Rick Pitino were just three of the names that wanted the Saginaw, Michigan product.
Bowen’s first choice was to head to Tucson and play for Sean Miller’s Arizona Wildcats, though. Well, except for one hitch: he’d sign on only if one of then-Wildcats Allonzo Trier and Rawle Alkins opted to go to the NBA, per Jeff Goodman’s initial ESPN report.