Chicago State head men’s basketball coach Lance Irvin announced today the hiring of Justin Bowen as an assistant coach.
“When hiring a coach, I look for someone articulate, knowledgeable and hardworking. Justin Bowen checks all of those boxes,” Irvin said. “Not only is he a great person, but he is also a good ‘X’ and ‘O’ coach. Justin has experience with great programs on the high school level from coaching at Kenwood Academy High School and Whitney M. Young Magnet High school and on the AAU circuit with the Mac Irvin Fire and Meanstreets organizations. During my search I made a lot of calls around the Chicago area looking for a solid young coach and Justin’s name was always mentioned. I am looking forward to his enthusiasm and passion for the game, making a tremendous impact at CSU.”
Bowen brings an extensive basketball resume to Chicago State. Most recently he spent five seasons coaching in the high school ranks after retiring from a pro basketball career featuring stops overseas in Switzerland (2006), Australia (2008-09) and South Korea (2009). He finished his pro career in the NBA Development League with the San Antonio Spurs and played for the Chicago Bulls Summer League team (2006) before embarking overseas.
Bowen spent 2019 as the head coach at Kenwood High School and led the Broncos to the Elite 8 of the city playoffs in his lone season at the helm and recently helped the Whitney Young Dolphins to an IHSA 4A boys state championship title as an associate head coach (2015-19) in 2017.
Bowen starred for Marshall High School where he was named to the Chicago Sun Times all-city team and earned third team all-state honors by high school elite.com in 2001. He accepted a scholarship to the University of Maryland-Eastern Shores before eventually transferring to the University of Illinois-Chicago where he earned Horizon League all conference honors, leading the Flames in scoring and rebounding en route to a conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament (2004).
https://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2020/9/17/justin-bowen-named-assistant-mens-basketball-coach.aspx
