Transcript
Home of the Panthers Pre-Game · Mon Nov 7, 2022
Welcome to the Home of the Panthers podcast produced by News Talk 1540 KXCL and presented by I'm On Communications.
Experience the I'm On difference.
UNI Panther men's basketball season begins tonight as the Panthers take on Wartburg.
The Knights just down the highway from Waverly to take on the Panthers at the McLeod Center.
This year ahead of Panther men's basketball games, we're going to bring you player perspective.
some insights from Bowen Bourne in his third season with UNI.
He joins us now.
Bowen, thanks so much for being here this evening and all throughout this coming season.
Yep, for sure.
Appreciate you having me on.
First question I want to ask, the after effects of COVID on everybody's eligibility.
So you're listed as a sophomore even though you have two years of college experience.
Do you feel like a sophomore?
Do you feel like a junior?
Yeah it's funny because a lot of people ask me that question all the time even just in classes I'll be like I'm a junior that's kind of what I say in class but then it's also like yeah I'm a sophomore basketball wise so it is a little you know weird and kind of just like a running joke that you know I've been here for three years but I'm still considered a sophomore so
It's definitely interesting.
I feel like I've played three years of college basketball just in terms of my experience being out there and having played a lot of minutes and a lot of games.
But that first year was also super weird to play with no fans.
And so I'm super glad that the NCAA did end up giving a lot of these student athletes an extra year because although I've been here for three years, that first year really didn't seem like college basketball.
Having played last year,
and played in some pretty packed environments and some really cool gyms.
Last year just definitely felt like college basketball.
And my first year didn't necessarily feel that way.
So I'm glad that the NCAA definitely gave this extra year to not only me, but all the other student athletes out there because although I've played three years, it still feels a little shortened because of that first year.
So yeah, I'd say I'm a sophomore, but I'm an experienced sophomore.
I don't know if you look at opposing teams roster the way the rest of us do as fans, but it is interesting because different programs do it differently.
So you look at UNI's roster and there's Austin Fife and everybody else for the most part are freshmen or sophomores.
I think what James Betts is listed as a junior.
And then there are other schools that have everybody listed as being a graduate student or a fifth year senior.
However, it is that they've chosen to do it.
Is that as disconcerting or discombobulating for players as it is for those of us who are fans?
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I feel like it can be confusing sometimes because, yeah, you look at some of the teams like Drake and you feel like, man, those guys have been there forever as well.
And so I'm sure some of those teams look at us and think, you know, the same way, you know, obviously like guys like last year, you know, with Taiwan and Trey Berhow and Fife, like a lot of those guys that have been players for a long time.
yeah I'm sure like you know sometimes it is a little bit you know just confusing to see that yet not everybody does it the same way which is kind of I think one of the disadvantages that I think could have maybe been done a little bit better because I feel like there was a lot of confusion just in terms of
All right, what do we call a guy who was a senior, but now is all of a sudden getting an extra year?
Is he a super senior?
You know, like what's the correct terminology?
And so obviously you and I went with the route of basically keeping everybody's year how it was.
And a lot of the other schools kept going and are now calling them fifth year seniors or whatever.
So it's a little bit confusing just because, yeah, some universities did do it different.
So yeah, it's just a little weird sometimes.
Yeah, seeing a scout or seeing, you know, different teams where you're like, you know, this guy was a year younger than me, but now he's the same great as me.
So it is a little confusing at times.
We're talking with UNI Panther men's basketball.
sophomore bowen born technically sophomore ahead of the panthers and the wortburg nights the first game of the regular season more on wortburg coming up but uh i wanted to ask bowen about another topic i'm sure you get a lot as a freshman you start every game as a sophomore last year your first sophomore season or whatever we're going to call it and let's we already talked that out last year you come off the bench you're the sixth man of the year
in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Some players wouldn't adapt well to that.
Why do you think you were successful?
I'd say the biggest reason was my eighth grade year I got hurt.
I broke my foot and so I had to sit out my whole eighth grade, you know, kind of basketball middle school year.
And so for me that really flipped the switch.
Just basketball wise is I was no longer out there on the court and I've always been pretty healthy and haven't had a lot of injuries and so
I immediately went from somebody who was playing all the time, getting a lot of minutes, being a leader out there, to then sitting on the bench and not being able to be on the court and produce.
And so for me, it kind of flipped the switch to where now that I'm sitting on the bench, how can I continue to impact my teammates?
How can I continue to help my team win as many games as we can?
While not being out out there on the floor and so I had been a starter basically my whole life And you know including you know that freshman year started all 25 games and then ended up getting hurt going into that second year and Had to kind of work my way through some stuff and so just having that unique perspective of You know, whatever my role was I was gonna do it to the best of my ability and so
For me, it was coming off the bench and whatever minutes that I was given, I was going to try to produce with those minutes and get the best out of myself as possible.
So Panther fans know you as a player.
Tell us something that fans wouldn't know about Bollin' Born as a person.
Some people know this about me, but I'm a big time graphic design artist.
I love doing...
sports graphics and I've kind of evolved with it a little bit.
I used to like just art in general but I've kind of found my niche a little bit in terms of kind of what I like to do and so I've ended up making a lot of graphics for the UNI social media this year and so a lot of those are being posted out and that's been pretty cool just to kind of see my work being being used and
For me, yeah, I just really enjoy graphics and I really enjoy kind of just the social media side of sport and trying to just increase, you know, the view of your program and how can you
impact your program and how can you make people want to follow it and how can you make people want to become interested in your program and so I'd say that's something that I'm over the past you know a couple months that I've put a actually quite a bit of time in just making some different graphics for for some sports teams and I've done a couple physical art projects and so I'd say that's one thing that you know some people know about me but not a lot
we're talking with you and I panther
sophomore bow and born I'm still gonna have to take some time to get used to that again sophomore by eligibility standards third season in the program and so it is Wartburg tonight at the McLeod Center It's a division three program last week against division three Dubuque in an exhibition game Ultimately a pretty comfortable 84 52 win What do you hope to take from this opening game against an opponent that's nearby that?
I think everybody would expect walking into the McLeod center of the Panthers are going to handle.
Yeah, I mean, it was great to get an opportunity to play a really solid division three team in Dubuque.
And with a lot of the new guys on the team, it was just really good to be out there on the floor with some fans in the building.
And so definitely going to have to come ready to play because I know that they're a pretty solid group as well.
I think it was good just to kind of get a little bit of a feel for what it's going to be like when the emotions are a little bit higher and everybody's a little bit more nervous.
And there's just a bigger care factor because all these guys are out there and they all want to do well.
And so we're super excited just to finally get the first official game underway.
It's a long process coming from.
You know, the start of summer to where we're at now, you know, there's a lot of time and a lot of work that's been put in.
And so we're definitely, yeah, super excited to play a good Wartburg squad.
A lot of Iowa kids on the smaller liberal arts college campuses, whether we're talking about Dubuque or Wartburg or any of the others.
I imagine there must be some connection.
There must be somebody that you've run into at some point in a big game at the high school level or AAU or something along those lines that you're going to look across and see or that you already saw in the game against Dubuque.
Yeah, it's funny that you bring that up because against Dubuque, one of their guards was actually one of Titan Anderson's old high school point guards and a guy that I played AAU with.
And so, yeah, like you said, there's some of those Warpburg guys that I know and see every now and then.
And like you're saying, you have grown relationships with them because you've played them in the past.
And so you kind of know each other.
And so that also adds another just aspect of...
fun, like there's a lot of guys on the team as well, like Cole Henry, who's friends with a lot of them and hangs out with them.
And so it also adds just a little bit more of a fun competitive aspect because you're getting to go out there and play a division one basketball game against your friends.
And so it's pretty cool to be able to play some kids that you've played in high school and played against and had some good battles with.
Bowen, thanks for being with us tonight and all throughout this season we'll look forward to getting more of your insights and your perspective and good luck against the nights.
Yep, thank you.
Thanks for listening to the Home of the Panthers podcast presented by I'm On Communications.
Experience the I'm On difference.
I'm Tim Harwood.
