Anyone remember LC Bowen?

[tornado]

One of Bradley's all time greats from the late 60's..
he and Chet Walker are in a Benton Harbor-area, Michigan vote for the area's BEST basketball player

http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2016/02/vote_for_greatest_kalamazoo-ar.html#0

there was also a 3rd Benton Harbor kid who played for Bradley

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/localsports/ex-benton-harbor-basketball-star-mcnutt-dies/article_09b577d6-f252-5824-8eb2-f916129f5461.html

[LongTimeFan]

Wasn't McNutt a part of a good guard tandem. My memory is a little hazy - Campbell?

[Chico]

Wasn't McNutt a part of a good guard tandem. My memory is a little hazy - Campbell?

McNutt and Tom Campbell (think that's how you spell his last name).

[Vent]

Wasn't McNutt a part of a good guard tandem. My memory is a little hazy - Campbell?

That is correct. Tom Campbell was from Milwaukee. Alex left school early to, I believe, join the army. Tom Campbell also left school early to join the army. McNutt did not return to Bradley. Campbell returned to Bradley after his stint in the army, in the late 60's.

McNutt was an exceptional talent and Campbell was a quality running mate.

L.C. Bowen was an incredible guard/forward combo that was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers after graduating from Bradley in the late 60's. He didn't stick with the Lakers but played several years and was very successful playing professionally in Europe.

[tornado]

McNutt just passed away a couple years ago...

[wizard1]

Anyone remember L.C. Bowen?

Of course I remember L.C. Bowen. He was an absolutely great player with what I believe was the quickest first step I have ever seen....Then or now! His senior year he tied for the leading scorer with Steve Kuberski and I believe this may have also been the leading score in the MVC that year.
Joe Stowell had a great recruiting connection into Benton Harbor which netted us L.C., a guy named Chet Walker, and one other guy.
Wiz

[Vent]

Of course I remember L.C. Bowen. He was an absolutely great player with what I believe was the quickest first step I have ever seen....Then or now! His senior year he tied for the leading scorer with Steve Kuberski and I believe this may have also been the leading score in the MVC that year.
Joe Stowell had a great recruiting connection into Benton Harbor which netted us L.C., a guy named Chet Walker, and one other guy.
Wiz

L.C. Bowen and Chet Walker were members of the 1,000 point club, in an era, when they only had three years of varsity playing time, no shot clock, no 3 point field goal, and several opponents would "stall" on offense to prevent Bradley from scoring.

It would be interesting to see how many current members in the 1,000 point club would still be in the 1,000 point club, if they had to play under those conditions. It would be equally impressive to see how many points people like L.C. Bowen, Chet Walker and others from that era would have scored if they had another full year to play, plus a 3 point field goal and a shot clock.

It's interesting that those teams scored more points in a slower game. There were also several years in the late 60's (the Lew Alcindor years) that it was illegal to dunk during a game.

[tornado]

and your best freshmen couldn't play varsity-
think if that were still the rule - we'd really be in trouble

[Vent]

There would be a lot less people in the 1,000 point club.

[Da Coach]

Another article proclaiming Chet Walker to be the best all-time player from the Kalamazoo Area-

http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2016/02/all-time_greats_benton_harbors.html

Chet was from Benton Harbor, about 60 miles west of Kalamazoo.

[Vent]

Another real fine player that was actually from Kalamazoo, was "Sudden" Sam Simmons. He was a 6-3 guard/forward that scored just a little under 1,000 points in his three years of eligibility. Had it been legal for him to play as a freshman and also have the 3 point field goal with a shot clock, my guess is he would have scored and additional 300-400 points during his career.

[Da Coach]

Sam Simmons was from Kalamazoo Central HS. He played varsity for Joe Stowell from 1969-70 through 1971-72.
According to the Bradley all-time record book, in 76 career varsity games, he scored 1,153 points and had 463 rebounds.
His 1,153 points ranks 33rd on Bradley's all-time career scoring list-
http://www.bradleybraves.com/pdf9/95...DB_OEM_ID=3400 (scroll to page 44)

But as stated, he played only 3 seasons, and back then they did not have a 3-point shot, and teams played fewer games, there was no conference tournament, and teams did not play in postseason tournaments easily (Sam never played in a post-season game). He played only 76 games in 3 seasons, while nowadays, it would not be unusual for a 3-year player to play in well over 100 games.

He wore #42 for his entire BU career, and was All-MVC his senior season.

[pfcmsh]

I Remember Both Bowen and Simmons

Bowen was a great wing player. I recall he wore a long support on one leg? Simmons was a great shooter. You wanted him to get the ball on offence. I was in the student section way up there in Robertson Fieldhouse and watched them both!!

[Da Coach]

I don't remember L.C. Bowen ever wearing a knee brace. Maybe you are thinking of one of his contemporaries, Joe Allen? Allen tore his knee ligaments in high school, and back then doctors did not attempt to repair them, so he always wore a long knee brace his entire career with Bradley.

[Vent]

I don't remember L.C. Bowen ever wearing a knee brace. Maybe you are thinking of one of his contemporaries, Joe Allen? Allen tore his knee ligaments in high school, and back then doctors did not attempt to repair them, so he always wore a long knee brace his entire career with Bradley.

You are correct, L.C. didn't wear a brace on his knee. Joe Allen did wear a knee brace that was cloth with laces, that went from mid-thigh to mid-calf on his left leg. As a high school senior, he led Chicago Carver to the IHSA State Championship. During his freshmen year at Bradley, he had surgery on his left knee in December. At that time the procedure was actually pretty common. The problem arose when he got an infection in his left leg as a result of the surgery. He almost lost his left leg. To this date, I still believe he is the best post player I have ever seen play at Bradley....by a long way.