Frank Haith's first season as the new Missouri men's basketball head coach just got a bit easier with the return of senior forward Laurence Bowers, who previously declared he was heading for the NBA Draft. Since Bowers did not sign with an agent, he's able to retain his NCAA eligibility, a move that has to thrill Haith's staff.
Bowers was able to use the experience of declaring officially for the NBA Draft and the evaluations that come with it to identify areas of improvement as well as determine his draft stock, so all was not lost in the process. Still, the pull to finish a solid college career and work with Frank Haith and his staff was enough to bring him back. Bowers gave his perspective in a recent university press release:
This has been a positive experience for me. I wanted to get some feedback on what areas of my game I needed to work on and that happened, but the bottom line is that I am looking forward to my senior season at Missouri. I have really enjoyed working with our new coaching staff and as a senior class we have a lot of great opportunities ahead of us."
Bowers was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team and led the club in rebounding and blocked shots last year, providing a major front court presence on a 23 win team.