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ira_bowman

Penn men's basketball assistant coach Ira Bowman was the team's longest tenured coach and also played two seasons for the Quakers before going on to play professionally. 

Credit: File Photo

Turns out, years of excellence can attract national attention.

That's what happened to former Penn men's basketball assistant coach Ira Bowman. Following a standout year for the Quakers and his sixth year as an assistant for the storied program, Bowman will be leaving the team. He'll be headed down south, to join the Auburn Tigers as an assistant to storied head coach Bruce Pearl.

Auburn is a member of the Southeastern Conference, a Power 5 conference and home to perennial college basketball powerhouses like Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida. Although Auburn's basketball program has historically taken a backseat to its illustrious football program, they tied for a regular season conference championship last year and ended the season ranked no. 19 in the country.

In March Madness, the Tigers were seeded fourth in the Midwest region and made it to the round of 32. Although Bowman will be moving from a 16-seed to a 4-seed, he has more than enough experience with success to coach anywhere.

Bowman played for the Quakers for two years, from 1994-96, and contributed to the team's three-peat in 1995. As a member of the illustrious mid-90s squad that won several Ivy League titles and an NCAA tournament game, Bowman ruled the conference and helped to bring a historic Penn program back to relevance.

Now, he'll have a whole set of new challenges to tackle at Auburn. There's no question he'll use the experiences and expertise he gained as a Quaker to conquer them.