Iowa Basketball Recruiting: Hawkeyes Land Commitment from 4-Star PG Dasonte Bowen

As we’ve noted a number of times already, June is heating up in the world of college recruiting. Nowhere does that seem more true than in Iowa City where Fran McCaffery and staff have lined up more than half a dozen visits for the month with some very highly sought after prospects.

Perhaps none have been more sought after by the Hawkeyes than Massachusetts point guard Dasonte Bowen. The former teammate of Iowa big man Josh Ogundele earned his first offer from the Hawkeyes and due to COVID-19, has only been able to visit Iowa City.

That included an unofficial back in 2019 and was followed up with an official visit last weekend. It was his first official and we learned on Wednesday it is likely his last as Bowen announced his commitment to Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes.

Landing Bowen is a major win for McCaffery and his staff. Fran has long been lauded for identifying talent early, developing a relationship, but has often seen that talent earn later offers from blueblood programs who steal them away at the last minute. Bowen was primed to be one of those stories.

Rated a 4-star prospect by 247 Sports and ESPN, Bowen has tremendous length as a 6’3” point guard. He’s excellent with the ball in his hands and can consistently beat his man off the dribble. He plays with the calm composure Hawkeye fans have yearned for from Joe Toussaint without giving up a ton in the quickness department.

Bowen is a solid shooter who can do enough consistently from beyond the arc to keep defenders honest. That’s all that’s needed given his burst and ability to finish at the rim. He’s also a tremendous and willing passer that should do well in Iowa’s system.

As we noted in our preview of his visit last week, here’s how Bowen described his game in an interview with ZagsBlog:

First of all, I’m a point guard. I can pass, finish and all of that. I’m an all-around player that can finish and play the defensive side. I can finish both smoothly and explosively. I would just describe myself as an all-around point guard.

Beyond the raw talent, Bowen is a hard worker who is committed to being the best player he can. Below is an excellent “day in the life” look at Bowen, his daily life and some of the work he’s putting in.

That includes practices with his new high school team, Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, as well as running with his BABC AAU team and training at the New England Sports Academy with a pair of trainers.

In addition to the Hawkeyes, Bowen also held offers from USC, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Miami, Maryland, Northwestern, Penn, Brown, Penn State, UMass, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Tennessee State and Bryant. He was slated visit Northwestern June 15-17th with a trip to Maryland June 28-30th. Those are both expected to be cancelled following the commitment.

With Bowen now in the fold as Iowa’s lone commitment in the class of 2022 (recall the big man Riley Mulvey, formerly in the class, reclassified to the class of 2021), Iowa now has two scholarships slated to be available. That number, however, will be in flux. Aside from the potential for transfers, the additional year of eligibility granted to all players due to COVID-19 means things are fluid.

For example, we learned earlier this week that grad transfer Filip Rebraca intends to make use of that extra year to play for the Hawkeyes for two seasons. It’s possible Connor McCaffery takes a similar approach to his final year(s) as a player. But those additional years will not count against scholarship limits. So the approach to recruiting will really be up to McCaffery and his staff.

Speaking of the class of 2022, Iowa had SG Josh Dix on campus this week for an unofficial visit and remains on track to get visits from nearly half a dozen other high profile players yet this month. That includes fellow PG Richard Isaacs, though it remains to be seen how the commitment of Bowen impacts his plans, 4-star PF Kyle Filipowski, 3-star SG Jaden Schutt, 4-star SF Aidan Shaw and potentially 3-star SG AJ Storr.

It’s an exciting time to be a Hawkeye. Welcome aboard Dasonte Bowen!

Dasonte Bowen, PG
Ht: 6’3”
Wt: 170
Hometown: Boston, MA (Brewster Academy)
Star Ranking: Rivals - 3-star 247 Sports - 4-star