Looking to retool its roster from last year’s Elite Eight run, Alabama dipped into the transfer portal to add four college transfers. Perhaps the most notable of those is Taylor Bol Bowen, a 6-foot-10 lanky forward from Florida State who is projected to start immediately for the Crimson Tide.
Bol Bowen recently opened up about his commitment to Alabama after announcing his intent to sign on April 4 following a visit to Tuscaloosa on an Instagram Live. He also made stops at Kentucky, SMU and USC during his recruitment.
Bol Bowen led the ACC in three-point shooting percentage at 47 percent, hitting 24 of 51 three-pointers in conference play. He shot 41 percent from the field on the season overall, hitting 29 of 70 attempts from deep. He says he’s excited to join Nate Oats’ system, which is especially renowned for developing elite shooters and runs an extremely fast-paced style.
“Coach Oats is an elite coach. They were the number one offense in the country last year,” Bol Bowen said. “I’ve really improved my shooting and can become an elite shooter, and I like how they play really fast and get up and down in transition. I’m really good in transition, so I think we can really unlock my game.”
Bol Bowen will also add major value on the defensive end for the Crimson Tide. With a long wingspan, he averaged 1.5 blocked shots per game, ranking second in the ACC last season. His 6.5 block percentage on KenPom also ranked second in the conference.
Aside from the scheme, Bol Bowen is also excited to work with Oats in the analytics department. Bowen, who is majoring in finance and expected to earn his degree next spring, said he’s looking forward to working with Oats and the advanced stats that Alabama’s coach has used to propel the program into national relevancy over the past couple of seasons.
“I think that Nate Oats is just extremely innovative and smart. I just think over the past few years how his offense has been able to be so efficient and productive — the numbers speak for themselves. He’s big into numbers; he’s a math guy. I study finance and I took classes like business calculus, so I understand when he says we need to get good looks, high points per shot and make sure we’re hitting our open shots — the efficiency and everything.
When I sat down with him and he explained his analytics to me — I’m not gonna give out his sauce — but he got it. It made a lot of sense.”
Oats wasn’t the biggest piece of Bol Bowen’s recruitment, though. That would be Alabama assistant coach and staffer Preston Murphy, who was an assistant on Bowen’s Expressions Elite EYBL team in 2022.
“Me and Preston are real close. I was talking to him earlier today, and he was just like, ‘Man, we got to win. We got a chance to get championships.’ Me and Preston have just been close ever since he coached me when I was younger. I feel like he was able to get the best out of me a lot — push me and hit certain buttons. He’s competitive in everything he does.”
Bol Bowen moves into Tuscaloosa this coming weekend, just after his 21st birthday on Wednesday, May 20. The Florida State transfer and the rest of the Crimson Tide team will have an enticing start to the season as they are set to face nonconference opponents such as Arizona, Illinois, Purdue among others yet to be announced.
