Alabama basketball 's NBA-style of play and advanced analytics have made Tuscaloosa a dream destination for players. That wasn't all that won over incoming Crimson Tide forward Taylor Bol Bowen.
Billed at 6-foot-10, 205 pounds, Bowen gives Alabama another lengthy piece for its 2025-26 roster , one that coach Nate Oats expects to be the best shooting team in program history. Especially with Bowen, who was the most effective shooter among Florida State starters last season.
After making over 47% of shots from the floor and 41% from 3-point range as a sophomore, Bowen still knows he has room to grow.
The Seminoles transfer recently spoke with Roger Hoover of the Crimson Tide Sports Network about his choice to join UA.
Bowen played for the Expressions Elite AAU team, led by UA assistant coach and recruiting mastermind Preston Murphy from 2020 until he joined Oats' staff in 2023.
"Those EYBL days, I feel like he brought the best out of me time and time again," Bowen said of Murphy. "He knew how to push me and make sure that I was focused on the right things and knew how to utilize me as a player, so that moved a lot of weight."
Alabama landed the four-star out of the transfer portal on April 4.
Alabama's culture sold Bowen, too. When Bowen visited, future teammates and support staff like UA grad assistant Max Thorpe, who played at FSU in 2024, showed him around and gave him a glimpse of what life could be like, and that "meant a lot."
"He [Thorpe] gave me a lot of good information and insight, so it felt like it was the right choice for me," Bowen said.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Taylor Bol Bowen on what held 'a lot of weight' in move to Alabama basketball
