Recruiting Report 2018: Elijah Bowens
Elijah Bowens, 5’9.5”, PG, 2018. Maret Frogs HS. Washington, DC.
Grassroots Team: Virginia Elite
We had the privilege of scouting Elijah last season where he orchestrated & ran the Maret Frogs very diversified offense in superb fashion. Elijah was one of the best all round PGs we scouted last season with a D1 mid major skill set. Maret finished the season with an excellent 26-5 record & despite a top 20 DC / DMV rankings, we believe the Frogs did not receive the recognition they deserved. Maret was runnerup in the MAC Championship game & DCSSA state finals. Playing against some of the best teams & players in the nation, Maret & Elijah more than held their own. Elijah competed against Chris Lykes & Prentiss Hubb from Gonzaga (ranked #8 in the nation) in the Washington DC State Finals & had excellent floor game & scored 16 points to combine with 5 assists. Earlier in the season The Frogs suffered a heartbreaking 57-56 loss to #9 in the nation to The Brentwood Academy (TN). Elijah went head to head vs the @10 ranked Brentwood PG iDarius Garland. Maret downed Wilson HS ranked #3 in the DC / DMV. The Tigers featured an excellent roster which included guards Ayinde Hikim (2018) & Carlos Dunn (2019) both of whom we rate as D1 recruits. In addition, Elijah battled national power Hudson Catholic which featured 5 star 2018 PG Jahvon Quinnerly who has committed to Arizona.
Last season Elijah frequently fed 6’11” top 100 national recruit & Stretch 5 Iowa commit Luka Garza in the post, mid rage & 3 point line. His passes to Luka & other key Maret players, 6’2″ Coby Davis (2018 Wake Forest football commit), 6’8″ 2019 F EJ Jarvis & 6’3″ 2018 Like Downing were delivered with perfect precision & timing placing each player in a perfect postilion & rhythm to score. Last season Elijah led the Frogs in assists @ 5.4 per game, & finished 2nd in scoring @ 12 points per game & led Maret 3 point conversions. He was one of the best true generals we saw last season & Elijah can control the pace & tempo of the game in such magnitude that this alone impacts the game. His 1st priority is to get others involved, facilitate & direct team spacing.
In our opinion Elijah is an elite ball handler with superb change of direction, change of pace, & great acceleration. His handle is very tight & compact with both hands & Elijah has the ability to read the defense at all dribbling speeds & execute. His on ball speed is excellent & Elijah is a great threat to go coast to coast blowing by & moving around & thru defenders. He can get to the rim with an array of dribble moves with a great hesitation & go, stop n go, spin dribble, and a Euro-step & crossover. Elijah usually looks to dish in his explosive moves to the basket, and he can finish thru contact. He is very bouncy & light on his feet with a great shooting stroke. Elijah can convert shots from all angles of the court with his very quick release. He is a knock down 3 point shooter off the dribble or catch, with the ability to play off the ball in certain sets.
Elijah is always ready to perform at a high level & he is a fierce competitor. Elijah is very tough, scrappy willing to go anywhere on the court to get the possession of the ball. He is moving towards becoming a lock down defender with his excellent lateral movement. He will go over & thru screens with his quickness & toughness. Elijah works out 2 times a day, 6 days a week looking to always to improve. One workout is focused on strength & conditioning & after a light warmup & stretching Elijah proceeds to work on overall basketball skills. After School he will ether run pickups or perform overall basketball skills drills. During the week Elijah incorporates plyos such as resistance bands, jumping rope, jump hops, other plyos & swimming. On down time he likes to study Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons), Isaiah Thomas (Cleveland Cavaliers), Damian Lillard & Allen Iverson.
We asked Elijah how his game has improved since the end of Maret’s season & he says,” I have added some off the dribble the moves & how to get my shot off from different angles. I have become smarter on the court & improved on how to manipulate defenses, gotten stronger, & faster. I want to continue to get stronger & become more flexible. Every night I receive great advice from my brother Trey, who helps me a lot with basketballs mental perspective & in the development my basketball skills.” Trey played football at Towson State & earned his degree in Finance. Elijah is very proud of his parents & close knit family all of whom are role models. His mother is a retired Colonel from the military & his father is a long time high level government employee. Elijah names Head Maret Coach Chuck Driesell ,Trainer Tarazz Brown, Coach O’Donnell as other influential role models. Elijah is very close to his Maret Head Coach & adds, “Coach Driesell has helped so much on & off the court. This season he wants me to become more a vocal leader & my main goal this season is put up a MAC Conference Banner for Coach Driesell & then win a Washington DC State Championship for him.” Coach Chuck Driesell is the son of former NCCA legend great Lefty Driesell who I had the great pleasure of watching him coach & meeting him several times.
In the classroom Elijah is working towards a 3.0 & scored 1200 on his SAT exam. His interests in college include Finance & Business Management. Elijah is receiving interest from Norfolk State, Susquehanna, St. Marys College & Lehigh. Elijah is an excellent college prospect who we will following very closely this season in addition to the Maret team in their quest for a MAC Title. We will be providing live game reports & player articles. In the next week we hope to write a Maret Team Overview Article. Please review Elijah’s outstanding videos below:
Check out 2016 – 2017 Highlights on @Hudl http://www.hudl.com/video/3/4843295/58d86116e97ab72828797a0a … #hudl
Coby is #1 in Washington, DC State Finals vs #8 in the nation Gonzaga HS.