Rick Bowen - Head Men's Basketball Coach

Oct. 6, 2005

Rick Bowen begins his 20th season as the UW-River Falls basketball coach in 2005-06.

He will be the first to admit that his lengthy tenure surprises him as much as anybody. "I originally came here thinking I would stay a maximum of five years and move on, but the University and the community have been so good to me that it has just turned into 20 years.

"This is a very special place. I am allowed to teach and coach. I am allowed to live a life doing what I love to do. The University administration has its priorities in order. I have really come to respect basketball at the Div. III level. To have the opportunity to coach basketball at the highest of levels in the WIAC and UW-River Falls is a privilege."

Bowen currently is seventh all time in the WIAC win column. His 259 victories at UW-River Falls put him first all-time in Falcon victories. Combining his head high school and collegiate wins, Bowen is approaching the 400 win total for his career.

The 2003-04 season will go down in history as the season that ended 54 years of Falcon basketball frustration. The Falcons hit the 20-win mark for the first time since the 1950 season and brought the elusive WIAC championship home to Karges Center, the campus and the city of River Falls. He was named the WIAC basketball Coach of the Year award and his peers also selected him as the NABC West Region Coach of the Year.

This was not the only national recognition Bowen and the Falcons received. The NABC named 6-8 Rich Melzer as the Div. III National Player of the Year and a first team All-American for the second consecutive year. Melzer is now playing professionally for a team in New Zealand in the Australian professional league.

Success has not come easy for Bowen and UW-River Falls. The 2005-06 season begins the 94th season of collegiate basketball for the Falcons. The University sports an overall 883-927 record for a .490 win/loss percentage. Bowen is currently 259-230. Since the turn of the new century the Falcons have been 89-48 finishing 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the nation's most competitive basketball conference.

The seven consecutive winning seasons from 1989 to 1996 was a stretch that was last equaled in the 1915-22 Falcon basketball seasons. Bowen's Falcons made school history for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th time by landing a spot in the NAIA District 14 playoffs in 1987, 1990, 1991 and 1992.

"I know we have struggled at times. I make no excuses. We are what we are. We play in Karges Center, a sub-par facility. We lack the historical perspective of some of our competitors. I have enjoyed taking the kids that want to come to River Falls to get a good education, and play basketball, and make us competitive. We have been consistently good, and I am very proud of that."

In the 2004-05 academic year Bowen's responsibilities increased as he was named the permanent UWRF Athletic Director, He is the only coach in the WIAC doing double duty serving as a coach and Director of Athletics.

Bowen came to UW-RF in 1986 following five years as a Wisconsin Badger assistant coach where he served on the staff with current Badger Coach Bo Ryan. He previously was an assistant coach at Ball State University, working under Coach Steve Yoder at both institutions.

Bowen graduated from Indiana University with an undergraduate degree in physical education in 1966. He served the Hoosiers as a student-manager under two time National Champion Coach Branch McCracken. Like his father, son Matthew was a basketball manager at Indiana University under Coach Bob Knight. Basketball runs deep in the Bowen family. Grandfather Vernie Bowen was an Indiana High School coach for 40 years. Nephew Christopher is currently the basketball manager at the United States Military Academy under Coach Jim Crews. Nephew Andrew Bowen is currently the basketball   manager at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana.

Bowen began his career in Indiana teaching government and coaching basketball. He earned a Masters degree from St. Francis in 1971. He served in the United States Army as a combat medic from 1967-69 with service in Vietnam from December of 1967 to December of 1968. For his actions in Vietnam he was awarded a Bronze Star.

Rick and his wife Sandy met as students while at Indiana University. They have been married for 39 years and have two sons. Sandy is retired after teaching cell biology and botany at River Falls High School. Matthew is assistant basketball coach at Valparaiso University and married to Birmingham, Ala., native Ashli. They have a daughter, McKenzi, 3, and reside in Valparaiso, Ind.

Contact Coach Bowen.

Rick Bowen

The Bowen File