Sanning: Bowden’s Legacy Will Go Beyond Basketball

I first met Jordan Bowden when I moved to Knoxville from the cold, snowy suburbs of Dayton, Ohio in 2010. Some days, it feels like eons ago. Others, it feels like it was only yesterday.

One of those latter moments came on Thursday, when our alma mater, Carter High School, retired Jordan’s no. 3 jersey.

Right away, I can tell you that I was no ball-player like Jordan, even when he was my size. I wanted to be, I just didn’t have the skill and feel for the game of basketball that he has. The love and passion for it was there, but frankly, I wasn’t great at it.

Most of you know Jordan as the 6’5 dynamo capable of throwing down monster dunks and launching it from 25-30 feet. I remember when he couldn’t reach the rim, and that’s what’s made his journey so incredible to watch.

I didn’t know what to expect of Carter when I trotted in for my first day of eighth grade classes. A shy, skinny kid from the north coming to experience the south for the first time? Of course I was nervous. I wanted to fit in and I surely wanted to be likable.

As I adjusted to life in Tennessee, more and more familiar faces began to pop up in the halls. One of those was a skinny, 5’9 kid that seemingly rocked a new pair of shoes every other day. I could tell by his look that he was a basketball player, a “hooper” as we used to call them. Little did I know, that he had a passion for football, too.

We didn’t speak much at first, but as I grew more acquainted with the lifestyle at Carter and (somewhat) improved my own basketball skills, I knew I had to catch him in action at least once.

Everybody spoke highly of his skills, but I walked into that first game against Lincoln Heights Middle School that year not knowing what to expect. Was he a passer? A pure scorer? Does he prefer to set his teammates up, rather than shoot?

27 points, a halftime buzzer beater and a season-opening victory later, I got my answer: a little bit of everything.

From that point on, I knew there was potential there, big-time potential.

Subsequently, it did not surprise me whatsoever when we moved across the street to Carter High, that Jordan was the lone freshman to suit up for varsity. He had grown a little by then, but he was still close to my 5’11, 150-pound frame than to his stature today.

Boy, did that change quickly.

By the time he was a sophomore, Jordan was dunking. When I was that age, I was just happy to be able to touch the backboard. He had a spring in those legs, and it would only get better and better as he continued to grow.

While family misfortunes would take my family back to my hometown for the length of my junior year, the kid that Coach Mike Wyatt once coined “babe” (beh-beh) was blossoming into a superstar.

And when I returned to Knoxville in Sept. 2014 for what would be my senior year, Jordan was preparing for the journey that would ultimately bring him to Rocky Top.

He averaged 26.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.2 assist per game that season, propelling the “Running Hornets” to the state playoffs while tallying some memorable performances along the way.

I wasn’t there for his school-record, 52-point tour-de-force against arch rival Gibbs, but I could only imagine how that made him feel. If you’re familiar at all with Carter athletics, you know that “Gibbs” is a five-letter word that is hardly uttered in the hallways.

The Hornets would not win the state championship that year, but Jordan would go on to be named the PrepXtra Boy’s Basketball Player of the Year while bringing home All-State and District 3-AA Most Valuable Player honors.

When I first heard the news that he hadn’t received any major college offers out of high school, I was shocked. I did not think that the prep school route was something he would have to take.

Jordan, like he always had, took that as another challenge and embraced the opportunity.

A little over a year later, the hometown kid earned a scholarship to his dream school, which happened to reside less than 15 miles from his childhood home.

What a story it has come to be.

Not only has Jordan thrived since he first stepped on a college court in 2016, he’s fully embraced his role off the court as well.

People around here needed someone to look up to, someone that had been through the struggles that many of us experience on a daily basis. Someone that watched his mother bust her hump for years to provide him with the opportunities he both needed and deserved.

Kids look up to him. Adults envy his determination. He’s now a legend in the Carter community, his name and legacy now memorialized forever inside the gymnasium that helped him grow into the dynamo that he is today.

It was only right that the journey finally came full circle, with his family, friends and teammates there to bask in the glory that they also helped create.

My only hope is that Jordan relishes in the moment and realizes just how far he’s come since that hot, sweaty August day back in 2010.

His legend is here to stay, and the honor couldn’t have been bestowed upon a better person.

At the end of the day, life is bigger than sports and Jordan Bowden embodies that message.

Photo courtesy of Carter High School Sports Information Director Ray Wynn.