Northern Iowa men’s basketball forward Bowen Born will enter the transfer portal, the guard announced Tuesday. Instagram.
“Coming to UNI was one of the easiest decisions I ever made, and deciding to leave was one of the hardest,” Born wrote. “I love UNI deeply and loved everything about this program, including my coaches, teammates, support staff and managers.
“Coach (Ben) Jacobson is one of the most important people in my life and will always be someone I look to for guidance.
“But as I graduated from UNI in May, I believe it is time for a change in my life. It is incredibly difficult to say goodbye to a program that I loved and gave my all to these past four years, so it is with mixed emotions to be playing my senior year of college basketball elsewhere.
“I am proud to be a Panther and to receive my degree from UNI. I will cherish my years at Cedar Falls forever. Thank you everyone for making this part of my journey so special.”
The Norwalk native played all four years of his college career with the Panthers, starting 89 of his 118 games. Born averaged 12.6 points, 2.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game on shooting splits of 39.8/34.5/85.4, and most notably was named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, MVC Sixth Man of the Year in 2021-22 and Second Team All-MVC in 2022-23.
He finished his UNI career among the top 10 scorers in program history (1,486 points) and ranked fourth in 3-pointers made (209).
Born’s best season came as a junior in 2022-23, in which he averaged career highs in points (17.9) and assists (2.7) per game before falling to 13.3 and 1.8, respectively. , as a senior.
Born was a two-star recruit coming out of Norwalk High School, according to 247 Sportsfollowing a career that saw him named Iowa’s Mr. Basketball, Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year, All-State Team Captain and first-team All-Tournament at the state tournament.
As a high school senior, Born averaged 36.4 points per game, shooting 54.4% from the field and 40.6% from deep. He ranks sixth all-time in the state of Iowa in scoring (2,494 points).
This article originally appeared in the Des Moines Register: UNI basketball’s Bowen Born enters NCAA transfer portal
