Louisville Basketball: How will Brian Bowen affect the Cardinals next season?

Consensus five-star recruit Brian Bowen is slated to make his college decision on Saturday, and it appears that the Louisville Cardinals won the recruiting battle.

Brian Bowen, the last 2017 five-star prospect left on the market, is expected to announce that he will sign with the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday at 4 p.m. While college decision announcements are normally semi-secretive, Bowen is currently enrolled in summer classes at Louisville, according to Jeff Greer of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Greer said that the Saginaw, Michigan, native recently made a trip down to Louisville where he took in a Cards’ practice, and that is when he made his decision. Bowen’s decision to attend Louisville is a huge surprise. He originally had Michigan State, Texas, Creighton, Arizona, and N.C. State on his final college list.

Michigan State and Arizona each had players withdraw from the NBA Draft. Apparently, that was enough for Bowen to “re-open” his recruitment. The 6’7 small forward re-worked his list which included Creighton, Oregon, Louisville, and DePaul, along with Texas.

Bowen led La Lumiere (Ind.) to its first ever Dick’s Sporting Goods High School Nationals title this past season. Bowen, who was named the tournament’s MVP,  tallied 15 points and collected seven rebounds in the championship game.  Overall, the  McDonald’s All-American averaged 22 points, six rebounds, and three assists this season.

Bowen is a pure scorer despite not being a great shooter, yet. He is very fluid athlete and has the ability to play above the rim. He also moves well without the ball.

Here is ESPN Insider scouting report on Bowen:

"“He has become a somewhat prolific scoring from all three levels on the floor. From a results standpoint he is extremely effective and efficient from the catch and shoot three point shot an dwell as the one dribble pull-up. He can put the ball on the floor going in either direction with outstanding perimeter footwork, and is a virtually ambidextrous scorer inside the paint with his floater game. His shooting stroke has made considerable progress when he is able to set his feet and fire with room and rhythm and will even take smaller defenders to the low post. His length gives him a definite weapon on the defensive end of the floor.”"

Bowen is expected to give the Cards another scoring option from the wing. Bowen will have a lot of competition for playing time, however. Junior Deng Adel and sophomore V.J. King return at the wing positions. Adel made a huge jump in his development last season while King showed flashes of brilliance.

Louisville is expected to be a major contender to make a run at the NCAA Tournament title this season. The Cardinals lost Jaylen Johnson and Donovan Mitchell as both decided to pursue a pro career early. The Cards also get the return of senior point guard Quentin Snider.

Next: 2017 NBA Draft: Which players should have stayed in school?

Additionally, coach Rick Pitino has once again brought in a fabulous recruiting class. The Cards 2017 class is currently rated as the 10th best by ESPN though that is likely to change with the addition of Bowen. Five-star, 6’11 center Malik Williams leads the four-man recruiting class.  Four-star point guard Darius Perry, four-star forward Jordan Nwora, and four-star power forward Lance Thomas rounds out the class.