Jay Bowie

Julius "Jay" Bowie (born March 25, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Surrey Scorchers of the British Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Marist College before playing professionally in the NBA Development League and Australia.

High school career

Bowie attended George S. Middleton High School in Tampa, Florida, where he spent his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to Tampa Preparatory School in 2008. As a junior in 2008–09, he was named Male Athlete of the Year after averaging a double-double with 14.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. As a senior in 2009–10, he again averaged a double-double with 16.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while leading his team to the Class 2A state final at the power forward position, alongside swingman teammate Jamal Cherry. He was also named to the Academic Honor Roll as a junior and senior.

On April 26, 2010, Bowie signed a National Letter of Intent to play college basketball for Marist College.

College career

As a freshman at Marist in 2010–11, Bowie was the lone Red Fox to start all 33 games. He averaged 6.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, and led the team with 24 steals. On December 6, 2010, he was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week after averaging 13.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game and leading the Red Foxes to conference wins over Niagara and Canisius.

As a sophomore in 2011–12, Bowie played in all 32 games and made 31 starts. He led the team in field goal and free-throw percentage with 49.1% and 84.9%, respectively, and was named to the MAAC All-Academic Team. On the season, he averaged 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He scored a career-high 23 points on February 4, 2012 against Canisius.

As a junior in 2012–13, Bowie played in 18 games and made 17 starts, all of them at power forward. He missed all of January as he sat out from December 31 to February 3 due to concussion-like symptoms he sustained after taking a hit to the head in practice in mid-December. He finished the season with averages of 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds, as he earned MAAC All-Academic Team honors for the second straight year.

As team captain his senior year in 2013–14, Bowie started all 31 games while averaging 12.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He led the Red Foxes in free-throw percentage, three-pointers made and three-point percentage, while leading team in scoring three times and rebounding eight times. He graduated from Marist College with a major in business administration and finished just a dozen points shy of the 1,000-point plateau for his career.

College statistics

Professional career

Delaware 87ers (2014)

After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Bowie tried out for the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League in October 2014. On November 3, 2014, he was named in the 87ers' 17-man training camp roster. In the team's season opener on November 15 against the Canton Charge, Bowie came off the bench to record 3 points, 3 steals and 2 rebounds in 16 minutes of action. After not playing in the 87ers' next game against the Westchester Knicks on November 22, he made his second appearance of the season on November 23 against the Maine Red Claws, recording 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 12 minutes off the bench. He was later waived in favor of Nolan Smith on November 26 after appearing in just two games.

Goldfields Giants (2015)

On February 11, 2015, Bowie signed with the Goldfields Giants for the 2015 State Basketball League season. He made his debut for the Giants on March 14 in the team's season opener, scoring 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting in a blowout loss to the Willetton Tigers. On April 11, he scored a season-high 40 points on 14-of-19 shooting in a losing effort to the Perth Redbacks. Bowie was named Player of the Week for Round 16 after leading the Giants to a 105–91 win over the Geraldton Buccaneers on June 27 with 34 points and 13 rebounds. Despite starting the season losing their first eight games, the Giants surged mid-season to win 14 of their final 18 games, finishing the season as the seventh seed with a 14–12 win/loss record. The Giants' big three of Bowie, Mathiang Muo and Jacob Holmen helped the team reach the playoffs for the first time in three years. The Giants went on to sweep the No. 2 seeded Geraldton Buccaneers in the first round of the playoffs, moving on to face the South West Slammers in the semi-finals. While staying competitive in the best-of-three series, their luck ran out as they were defeated 2–0 by the Slammers to bow out of the playoffs. Bowie appeared in all 30 games for the Giants in 2015, and averaged 24.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He subsequently earned club MVP honors.

Willetton Tigers (2016)

In November 2015, Bowie signed with the Willetton Tigers for the 2016 SBL season. On March 18, 2016, he made his debut for the Tigers in the team's season opener against the East Perth Eagles, recording 36 points and 12 rebounds in 41 minutes of action in a 90–82 win. After having a poor shooting game in the team's next contest the following day, going 3-of-16 from the field for 10 points against the Rockingham Flames, Bowie scored a career-high 45 points on 18-of-28 shooting in a 113–99 win over the Stirling Senators on March 24. He subsequently earned Team of the Week nomination for Round 2. On April 2, he recorded 29 points and 13 rebounds in a 100–99 loss to the his former team, the Goldfields Giants. Six days later, he flirted with a triple-double against the Cockburn Cougars, recording 29 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in a 115–108 loss. On April 25, he recorded his first career triple-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 147–66 win over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns. He subsequently earned Team of the Week nomination for Round 6. Bowie helped the Tigers finish the regular season in third place with an 18–8 record. After sweeping the Stirling Senators in the quarter-finals, the Tigers faced the Joondalup Wolves in the semi-finals, where they were defeated 2–1 despite a 27-point effort from Bowie in a 110–95 Game 3 loss. Bowie appeared in all 31 games for the Tigers in 2016, averaging 24.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

Surrey Scorchers (2016)

On August 19, 2016, Bowie signed with the Surrey Scorchers of the British Basketball League. He missed the team's first two games of the regular season before making his debut in Round 2 on September 30. He struggled from the field in his first game, going 2-of-12 for a total of five points in 36 minutes as a starter, as Surrey were defeated by the Leicester Riders 88–79 in overtime. In his third game for Surrey on October 9, Bowie scored a team-high 17 points in an 88–70 loss to Leicester. Five days later, he had a 14-point game in an 81–76 win over the Sheffield Sharks. Bowie appeared in 11 regular season games and three BBL Cup games for Surrey before the club decided to part ways with him on December 21, 2016. In 14 total games, he averaged 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game.