Florida State University Athletics
Saturday, February 22
Louisville, KY
12 Noon
Florida State
at
University of Louisville
Bol Bowen’s Length and Hustle Fuel Florida State’s Defense
2/21/2025 12:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, KY. -- Taylor Bol Bowen, a 6-10 sophomore who is playing the best basketball of his career in his second season at Florida State, is one of the most improved players in the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. In a conference that now totals 18 teams and many outstanding players, Bol Bowen has distinguished himself by utilizing the physical attributes that have allowed him to flourish in the game he has loved as long as he can remember.
Bol Bowen has not only improved as a shooter, but also utilized his height and wingspan on defense as one of the top shot blockers in the ACC. His 7-2 wingspan and his incredible length allows him to contest shots, disrupt passing lanes, and protect the rim on defense at a very high level.
"I'm very tall and long so I can block shots, " said Bol Bowen. " I just chase after rebound with effort and intensity and I just try to block everything that comes my way."
Not only has his height made an impact defensively, but his length has been on display with his innate ability to get into passing lanes and disrupt passes and earn steals.
Bol Bowen's defensive efforts have moved the Seminoles to the forefront of the defensive teams in the ACC as they enter Saturday's game against Louisville as the conference leaders in both blocked shots and steals.
In Florida State's victory over Miami, Bol Bowen tied his career-high with four blocked shots and totaled four rebounds as the Seminoles limited the Hurricanes 66 points, a .417 field goal shooting percentage and a .211 shooting percentage from the 3-point arc. With Bol Bowen earning two steals, the Seminoles totaled an ACC season-high 12 steals.
His performance against Miami prompted Coach Leonard Hamilton to praise his second-year player in the post-game press conference.
"Taylor is blessed with a lot of physical attributes that are rare," said Hamilton. "His quickness, his explosiveness, his reaction time, his ability to switch one through five is not a quickness from an athletic standpoint are outstanding."
Hamilton continued to speak about Bol Bowen's improvement as an all-around basketball player.
"I've been challenging him to utilize his God given talents that he's blessed with," said Hamilton. "While he's working on those areas of his game where he needs to continue to keep growing and developing, I think he's responding well, and I love his attitude."
Bol Bowen has become one of the top defenders in the ACC.
Bol Bowen has 15 blocked shots in the last eight games, a 1.5 blocked shots per game average. In three of those games, he recorded a career-high four blocked shots, against Pittsburgh (January 15), Cal (January 22), and Miami. His shot-blocking ability has him ranked third in the ACC in blocked shots. He is one of only six players in the conference with 35 or more total blocked shots.
In addition to his improvement on defense, he has illustrated his improvement on offense throughout the season.
Bol Bowen is enjoying the best season of his collegiate career as he is averaging more than twice as many minutes played (25.4 this season as compared to 10.9 last season), while all of his numbers – points, assists, steals, and rebounds, blocked shots, and shooting percentages have all increased across the statistics sheet.
His top-scoring game this season was against Georgia Tech, where he scored 20 points. In Florida State's first game against Miami in Coral Gables he made his career-high four of four 3-pointers and scored 16 in the Seminoles' ACC road victory. Bol Bowen also hit one of the most important and memorable shots of the season – a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining to lift the Seminoles past Wake Forest on the road in ACC play.
Bol Bowen has also developed into a team leader as a returning veteran and a great teammate.
Freshman AJ Swinton is Bol Bowen's roommate this year and often refers to Bol Bowen's leadership off of the court.
"I can go to Taylor, my roommate, and speak to him whenever I need to and he is always laughing and smiling," said Swinton. "He helps keep me happy and upbeat. If I don't think I played well, he'd ask me to sit with him and chat about how I was feeling."
Bol Bowen unwavering dedication to defense not only elevates his personal performance but also inspires his teammates to achieve their goals defensively, as well as offensively.
Bol Bowen has not only improved as a shooter, but also utilized his height and wingspan on defense as one of the top shot blockers in the ACC. His 7-2 wingspan and his incredible length allows him to contest shots, disrupt passing lanes, and protect the rim on defense at a very high level.
"I'm very tall and long so I can block shots, " said Bol Bowen. " I just chase after rebound with effort and intensity and I just try to block everything that comes my way."
Not only has his height made an impact defensively, but his length has been on display with his innate ability to get into passing lanes and disrupt passes and earn steals.
Bol Bowen's defensive efforts have moved the Seminoles to the forefront of the defensive teams in the ACC as they enter Saturday's game against Louisville as the conference leaders in both blocked shots and steals.
In Florida State's victory over Miami, Bol Bowen tied his career-high with four blocked shots and totaled four rebounds as the Seminoles limited the Hurricanes 66 points, a .417 field goal shooting percentage and a .211 shooting percentage from the 3-point arc. With Bol Bowen earning two steals, the Seminoles totaled an ACC season-high 12 steals.
His performance against Miami prompted Coach Leonard Hamilton to praise his second-year player in the post-game press conference.
"Taylor is blessed with a lot of physical attributes that are rare," said Hamilton. "His quickness, his explosiveness, his reaction time, his ability to switch one through five is not a quickness from an athletic standpoint are outstanding."
Hamilton continued to speak about Bol Bowen's improvement as an all-around basketball player.
"I've been challenging him to utilize his God given talents that he's blessed with," said Hamilton. "While he's working on those areas of his game where he needs to continue to keep growing and developing, I think he's responding well, and I love his attitude."
Bol Bowen has become one of the top defenders in the ACC.
Bol Bowen has 15 blocked shots in the last eight games, a 1.5 blocked shots per game average. In three of those games, he recorded a career-high four blocked shots, against Pittsburgh (January 15), Cal (January 22), and Miami. His shot-blocking ability has him ranked third in the ACC in blocked shots. He is one of only six players in the conference with 35 or more total blocked shots.
In addition to his improvement on defense, he has illustrated his improvement on offense throughout the season.
Bol Bowen is enjoying the best season of his collegiate career as he is averaging more than twice as many minutes played (25.4 this season as compared to 10.9 last season), while all of his numbers – points, assists, steals, and rebounds, blocked shots, and shooting percentages have all increased across the statistics sheet.
His top-scoring game this season was against Georgia Tech, where he scored 20 points. In Florida State's first game against Miami in Coral Gables he made his career-high four of four 3-pointers and scored 16 in the Seminoles' ACC road victory. Bol Bowen also hit one of the most important and memorable shots of the season – a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining to lift the Seminoles past Wake Forest on the road in ACC play.
Bol Bowen has also developed into a team leader as a returning veteran and a great teammate.
Freshman AJ Swinton is Bol Bowen's roommate this year and often refers to Bol Bowen's leadership off of the court.
"I can go to Taylor, my roommate, and speak to him whenever I need to and he is always laughing and smiling," said Swinton. "He helps keep me happy and upbeat. If I don't think I played well, he'd ask me to sit with him and chat about how I was feeling."
Bol Bowen unwavering dedication to defense not only elevates his personal performance but also inspires his teammates to achieve their goals defensively, as well as offensively.
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