Florida State University Athletics
Women's Basketball
- Title:
- General Manager
Will Cowen was named the General Manger of the Florida State women's basketball team ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Cowen, who has worked closely with Florida State student-athletes since 2018 in various roles, joins the staff after serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Rising Spear, Tallahassee’s original NIL Collective serving the NIL needs of over 200 FSU student-athletes.
He chaired Florida State University’s Name Image and Likeness Task Force from 2019-2021. He has developed national, regional and local relationships with over 65 sports agents, along with national sports law professionals and serves as a guest lecturer for graduate students in FSU Sports Management and Jim Moran College of Business.
From 2018-2021 Cowen served as the Director of Player Development for the Florida State Women’s basketball Program. Under his leadership, the program raised 1.4 million dollars, while also coordinating the life skills programming.
On the hardwood in 2018-19, the Noles advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament and amassed four wins vs. AP top 25 teams. Prior to the pandemic in 2020, FSU was the runner up in the ACC championship game and boasted the top-ranked half-court offense in the conference under Cowen’s leadership.
On June 9, 2021 Cowen was inducted to the California Community College Athletic Administrator’s Hall of Fame.
Cowen was named as one of the recipients of this prestigious NACDA/Under Armour National AD of the Year award after a decade of leadership at Ventura Community College in Southern California On June 29, 2018.
Cowen spent his summers from 2004-2017 working throughout the country with Ann Meyers-Drysdale and Bill McClintock on the Frontline Basketball Camps and under America’s basketball Guru Pete Newell. Cowen served as a consultant to many college coaching staffs across the country.
Cowen first arrived at Ventura College assisting the football and men's basketball teams from 2005-08. In January of 2009, Cowen was selected as the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for the Pirates. Later that spring he added the title of head men's basketball coach. In two of his three seasons at the helm, the Pirates finished on top of the conference.
From 2009-2018, Ventura College Athletics finished the year ranked in the top ten for community colleges in the Learfield Director’s Cup standings five times. During Cowen's tenure the College amassed five state championships and 67 conference championships. On 18 occasions during Cowen’s tenure, Ventura College had received recognition as a state scholar team by the CCCAA Awards Committee. In 2016-2017 the average GPA of a Ventura College student-athlete rose to 3.12; with 14/19 teams above the 3.0 mark. From 2009-2018, 71% of the sophomore student athletes at Ventura College transferred and over 9.1 million dollars in annual scholarships had been earned. In 2017,130 Pirate student-athletes transferred to four-year universities.
Prior to his arrival at Ventura College, Cowen worked at Pacifica High School in Oxnard, California, from its inception in 2001-2008 and from 1995-2001 at Ventura High School. He served in various capacities as: teacher, coach, athletic director and alternative education instructor focusing on at-risk students. The Ventura High graduate is known in the basketball community for becoming the first coach to guide a Pacific View League team to the CIF State basketball tournament at Pacifica High School.
