All-American Bowl journal: Notre Dame LB Drayk Bowen on experience in San Antonio
Throughout the week at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean and Notre Dame signee Drayk Bowen shares his thoughts and experiences of taking part in the prestigious postseason all-star game.
Below are his thoughts heading into Friday.
On non-football activities they’ve done this week: “We’ve played some video games and been able to do Top Golf, Dave and Busters and cornhole, so it’s been a fun week.”
On Thursday’s practice: “It was pretty relaxed. We had one practice, and it was really making sure we had our stuff right. We did some 7v7, inside run and team.”
On his favorite experience this week: “Probably getting to play against the best in the country and compete with all of them.”
On the importance of competing in the All-American Bowl: “This week had been really to show that I can play with the best, and I do like having something to prove. It adds a chip to make you want to go harder.”
On how his West team stacks up against the East team: “I feel like our defense is strong, and their offense is strong, so it will be a good matchup.”
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Previewing Notre Dame recruits in the All-American Bowl
All-American Bowl week for Notre Dame’s 2023 class is here.
On Monday, the players set to compete in the premier postseason all-star game arrived in San Antonio, Texas. The All-American recruits will practice Tuesday-Friday ahead of the contest which will air on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.
Notre Dame had 11 signees in the game last year and was going to be near that number if it weren’t for injuries. The Fighting Irish will have five players to track this week.
Irvington (N.J.) High’s Adon Shuler, the nation’s No. 314 overall player and No. 27 safety according to the 2023 On3 Consensus, and Mentor (Ohio) High’s Brenan Vernon, the No. 141 recruit and No. 16 defensive lineman per the same metric, highlight the Notre Dame players on the East squad.
Shuler will wear the No. 18 jersey, while Vernon will rock No. 9.
On the West squad, Notre Dame has three players. Houston The Kinkaid School’s Micah Bell, who ranks as the nation’s No. 166 prospect and No. 22 cornerback in America, will wear the No. 23 jersey this week, while Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean’s Drayk Bowen, the No. 88 prospect and No. 7 linebacker in the land, will wear No. 34.
Just last Thursday, Belmont (N.C.) South Point’s Sullivan Absher, the No. 179 overall player and No. 13 offensive tackle in the country, was invited to the All-American Bowl. Obviously, Absher isn’t from the western part of the country, but as a fill in, he’ll wear No. 78 for the West team.
