Ryan Bowen says he's 'fortunate' to return to Iowa

Ryan Bowen is ready to begin the next phase of his basketball life. 

Bowen retired this year from professional basketball after 10 seasons in the NBA. He now will extend his basketball knowledge to his alma mater, the University of Iowa. 

Bowen, 34, has joined the Iowa men's basketball staff as a video coordinator and administrative assistant. It's a role that he wanted and one he's happy to have. 

"I feel very fortunate to get this job," Bowen said Wednesday. 

Bowen is getting acclimated to Iowa's video editing system, but he's confident he can put together a good video scouting report with his NBA experience. His other duties include assisting new Coach Fran McCaffery and Jerry Strom, the program's director of basketball operations. 

Bowen, a Fort Madison native, garnered one of the most well-rounded careers in Iowa basketball history. He was a two-time all-Big Ten performer. He scored 1,090 points, grabbed 804 rebounds and holds Iowa's school record in career field-goal percentage at 57.5 percent. He ranks first overall in steals (208), fourth in blocks (124), eighth in rebounding and 32nd in scoring. He played at Iowa from 1994 through 1998. 

But it's not just Bowen's statistics that made him special to former Iowa Coach Tom Davis. It was his personality. 

"He's such a positive person in that he could be good at whatever he does," Davis said earlier this year. "I said, 'Ryan, you know what I think you should be?' He kind of got a smile on his face and he said, 'I have no idea what you're thinking.' I said, 'I think you should be a politician.' 

"If you've ever been around him, it's hard to find somebody that doesn't like him because he's such a positive, energetic kind of guy. Of course, that's why he was such a great player and a great team leader." 

Bowen played five years for the Denver Nuggets, then two years for the Houston Rockets. He later played two seasons for the New Orleans Hornets before finishing his career earlier this year with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also played overseas in Turkey and Israel. 

Bowen is new Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery's third new staff hire since taking over as coach in late March. McCaffery previously hired former Siena assistant Andrew Francis and former Central Florida Coach Kirk Speraw, also a former Hawkeye, as assistant coaches. 

“I remember watching Ryan play in high school, and followed his career at Iowa and the NBA," McCaffery said in a statement. " There isn't a harder working basketball player that understands the game than Ryan Bowen. I talked to Jeff Van Gundy, Jeff Bower and John MacLeod and each one raved about his character, work ethic and knowledge of the game. He's going to make a great impact here at Iowa, just like he did when he was a player.” 

The most grueling part of Bowen's job right now is dealing with the commute. He and his family live in Burlington, and he drives to Iowa City every day. So far he leaves the house at 6:30 a.m. and arrives home sometimes after 9 p.m. 

But he's happy to get back into the Hawkeye fold. He considered going into coaching before the current NBA season, but decided to play one more year. He made the Thunder roster, appeared in one game but then was released. He considered trying to latch on with another NBA team, but it didn't work out. That's when he decided to go into coaching. 

He attended McCaffery's introductory news conference, spoke with McCaffery for a bit but then backed off. Eventually, he earned a spot on McCaffery's staff. 

"I know a lot of former players wanted a position on the staff," Bowen said. "I feel lucky, fortunate and very humble to work here at Iowa."