Top-25 prospect Taylor Bowen updates recruitment, talks college team-up
Born in Egypt, but raised in Vermont, Taylor Bowen has solidified himself as one of the top junior prospects in the country.
The 6-foot-9 small forward who now attends Brewster (N.H.) Academy holds 20+ scholarship offers and is ranked as the 25th best prospect in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus.
Bowen has been taking his time with the recruiting process, but now says it’s time to get serious. He’s only visited two programs – Providence and UConn – both unofficially. The junior wing made his second trip to Providence this past weekend, to see the Friars win over Marquette.
Bowen on Providence
“I like coach (Ed) Cooley a lot and the coaching staff,” Bowen said of Providence. “Obviously, my trainer Corey Wright, his dad played at Providence, so that helps. Providence has been kind of a second home. Also, I feel like I could be really dominant in the Big East and I really think someone with my skill set could make a big impact at Providence.”
Despite having ties to the program, Bowen says Wright has been “very unbiased” during his recruiting process. He says he doesn’t feel pushed to attend Providence, and Wright wants him to go wherever is best.
To make the deal even sweeter, Taylor Bowen’s AAU teammate, Gavin Griffiths, a high-level recruit in his own right, is also a Friars’ target. The two, along with Taylor’s trainer, Corey Wright, took an unofficial visit to Providence last October.
Bowen and Griffiths have a close-knit relationship, formed by playing together for the EYBL program Expressions Elite. Unsurprisingly, the two have talked about the potential of playing in college together.
“Gavin is my dog, like my day one dog. Through Expressions, I got to know him so well, by traveling with him and going to battle with him against so many other tough guys in our grade. I just got to grow a good relationship and a good bond with Gavin. You know, me and Gavin have definitely talked about playing together in college a lot, and I think that’s something that could definitely happen, for sure. I think that’s very realistic. I enjoy playing with Gavin.”
Schools in the mix
When asked which schools Bowen is hearing from, he rattled off quite a few, including, Houston, Kansas, Providence, UConn, Arkansas, Vermont, Duke, Marquette, USC, and Iowa.
He also says he’s been gathering interest from UCLA, Baylor, Memphis, Oklahoma State, and Kentucky.
Taking official visits are next for Bowen. He says he will start to head out to schools between March and May, and then shorten his list by June.
Bowen is planning on making a commitment before the start of his senior year, after the conclusion of the AAU season, likely in August.
Official visits
Bowen says he hasn’t given official visits too much thought and hasn’t set any dates yet.
“All the schools recruiting me have a chance to get me on an official visit,” Bowen says. “Whoever is rocking with me the most will get my official visits.”
However, he did list a few schools, in particular, he would like to see officially – Duke, Providence, and Kansas.
Taylor Bowen says he’s looking for a school that “that’s going to let me be a ball player, allow me to make plays on the court and use my versatility.”
Another possible college team-up?
To go along with a possible team-up with his AAU teammate, Gavin Griffiths, Bowen has also talked about the same with his high school teammate at Brewster Academy, five-star Matas Buzelis.
The two picked up an offer from Duke on the same day, in October of last year. Kansas is also a mutual offer they both share.
“It was obviously really cool to get an offer from Duke,” Bowen explained. “It’s a childhood dream to get an offer from Duke. I feel like it’s almost everyone’s dream to get an offer from Duke, just because of how they’ve been in previous years. So it was definitely super exciting, no question about that. I just want to make sure if it’s right for me and make sure that whatever school I go to is the best fit for me and not just going off of the name.”
Bowen says there is a chance he and Buzelis play together at the college level, but it’s not a make-or-break situation.
“Me and Matas are close friends for sure,” said Bowen. “I think on the recruiting front, we could definitely be teammates one day. It could definitely happen. But it’s not something we really spend a lot of time talking about. We both go to Brewster and live at Brewster so we’re around each other, so we’ve definitely talked about playing with each other before but it’s not really an idea that’s been at the forefront.”