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and a big school, so why not check it out? BWI Talk to me about the visit then. How impressed were you? What did you think about getting the o4er? BOWENS There was a lot. When we 3rst got there, it was me, my teammates, my coach and my dad. The 3rst thing we see when we walked into the place was the entire coaching sta4 waiting to greet us at the same time. I had never seen anything like that before. No other school had done that for us, so I thought that was really cool. They had the red carpet rolled out for us. But also, I thought that their facilities were great. I really liked their weight room, the locker room, all of that stu4. Their coaches were really cool, too, so it was great. I immediately felt a good connection with all of their coaches. They're a cool group, and I just knew right away that they could help me get to that next level. They could help me do a lot. BWI What was it like sitting down with Rahne and going over their quarterback 3lm? I assume that was your 3rst chance to really learn about him as a coach. Also, can you talk about earning the o4er from James Franklin? What was that like? BOWENS A6er we got done taking all the photos and all of that, one of their coaches told me that Coach Rahne wanted to meet with me in his o5ce. So I went up there and we went through a bunch of their plays and concepts and everything they do up there. That gave me a really good feel for their o4ense. Hon- estly, from that moment on, I realized that I not only had a pretty good connection with Coach Rahne, but that this o4ense was perfect for me. But yeah, when I got the o4er, I was totally shocked. I wasn't expecting to be o4ered the 3rst time I was there. I guess I impressed them when I was able to meet them that day. But I was totally shocked. I was really surprised. BWI What was it like when you went home? You committed basically three weeks a6er visiting the school for the 3rst time, so what was going through your head and what were your discus- sions like with your family? I know your dad got to come along, but did your mom approve of you going all the way across the country? BOWENS So, my commitment was ac- tually a surprise for my dad's birthday. We had a party for him, and as a collec- tive present we all created these short videos for him. It was just our way of telling him how much we appreciate him and love him, things like that. At the end of my video is when I committed. I actu- ally decided probably a week before, so it was hard for me to keep that to myself that whole time. The only person that ac- tually knew was my older sister, who cre- ated the video. But my mom and dad have always wanted what's best for me. My mom took it a little hard at 3rst because she wants me to stay closer to home, but she also knows that's not necessarily the best decision for me. I need to go on and become my own person. I know she de3- nitely understands that. She's proud of me. My dad has always wanted what's best for me and he really liked Penn State. I think he liked it maybe even more than I did, so he completely understood. BWI Have you been able to communi- cate with any of the other committed players yet? BOWENS Yeah, I've talked to all of the committed guys already. I'm also talking to a few guys who I'm trying to get to commit. So far, it's going pretty well. BWI That leads me to my next ques- tion: Penn State also o4ered Rome Odunze and Darnell Washington, who both visited with you. What's your rela- tionship like with those two? How hard do you plan to push PSU on those guys? BOWENS So Darnell doesn't actually go to my school, but we play seven-on- seven together. He's a big dude and he's fun to be around. He's always joking around with us and we have a lot of fun. I've known him for about a year now, maybe a little less than that. Rome goes to Gorman, of course, so we've been cool since freshman year. We've become re- ally close now. He's one of my closest friends. I talk to them about [Penn State] all the time. I've already planted the seed and I make sure it stays in their mind. Both of them already know that Penn State would be a great place to go to. They have great coaches there and they're putting together a really good class. Penn State is a place that's going to win. Those guys know that. BWI Talk to me about this past season. In your 3rst four games as a varsity quarterback, you played Mater Dei [Calif.], Centennial [Ariz.], Orem [Utah] and De La Salle [Calif.]. Three of those teams were top-100 programs in the country. Mater Dei 3nished No. 1 overall. What was that like, considering that you were a new to the position? BOWENS I feel like the biggest thing, for me, was getting the experience, es- pecially early in the year when we played some great teams. During my sopho- more year, I was mainly playing corner- back, so it wasn't until this year that I started playing quarterback again. So, just getting that experience in those 3rst four games, against four really good teams with really good athletes, showed me what I needed to improve on to be successful. Unfortunately, we started 1- 3, but then my teammates rallied and we 3nished the season really strong, win- ning a state championship. The team did a really good job coming together. BWI Is there anything in particular that you feel like you really improved on? BOWENS I would say that I just learned the speed of the game. You have to make decisions quick, especially at quarter- back. You're the leader out there, so not only do you have to make quick deci- sions during the play, but you also have to read your teammates and read the de- fense. Just getting that experience helped me a lot as the season went on. I felt like I did a much better job by the end of the year making sure that our plays went according to plan. BWI For my last question, I like to give guys an opportunity to say something to Penn State fans. It can be whatever comes to mind. Anything in particular you'd like to say? BOWENS I would just like to say thank you for all the love. ... But also, just know that I'm going to help recruit a few more guys. I'm going to make sure we bring an- other great group of players to Happy Val- ley. ■

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