Worlds of experience

Basketball has taken Ira Bowman places he never thought he'd be. The Palestra was his first unexpected destination, but after transferring from Providence College he found himself as one of the Ivy League's all-time greats and the 1995-96 Player of the Year.

Then, the sport took him into the most remote corners of the United States - being an employee of the smaller-market Continental Basketball Association will do that to a player.

And after trips down under to Australia and up to the NBA, Bowman is in a strange place once more.

Now, ironically, basketball has taken him to a place that the hoops gods don't seem to be too fond of - the New Jersey Institute of Technology, whose epic losing streak was pushed to 50 with its 70-62 loss to Loyola (Md.) last night.

Stranger than the locale, however, is Bowman's new moniker: coach.

The 1996 Penn grad joined the Highlanders this season as an assistant coach along with new head coach Jim Engles, a former Columbia assistant. The newfound authority still hasn't sunk in.

"It is a little hard to hear 'coach,'" Bowman said. "I'm getting better with it as the days go on."

While he is just 35 years old, the diversity of Bowman's experience makes him an ideal candidate to be a leader on a coaching staff - in hoops years, he's an old man.

Then-Penn coach Fran Dunphy wooed Bowman after his two seasons at Providence.

His Player of the Year campaign in his senior year didn't garner him enough attention to get drafted into the NBA, so after a brief stint in Australia, he starred for the CBA's Connecticut Pride and the United States Basketball League's New Jersey Shorecats.

Finally, in 1999, Bowman returned to Philadelphia just the way he wanted to - suiting up for the NBA's 76ers for 11 games. From 1999 to 2001, he played parts of three seasons with the 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks, and he would eventually return to the CBA.

"I feel like I've played with people from every walk of life," Bowman said. "Rich guys, poor guys, people that don't speak good English to people who do speak English."

His biggest muse along the way may have been one of the first. Bowman has played under the likes of Larry Brown (with the 76ers), Rick Barnes (at Providence) and Pat Knight (with the Pride) - good company to say the least. But amidst these influential voices, Dunphy's impact has endured.

"He was one of the best coaches I've ever played for," Bowman said. "I've taken a lot of his life skills and his eye for the game and eye for how to deal with people."

As Engles assembled his staff last spring, a little bit of the Dunph must have been shining through already. For a program in dire need of a turnaround, Engles saw in Bowman a perfect candidate - a man who has always exceeded expectations.

"He's never taken a disadvantage," Engles said. "He understands . work ethic.

"He's been great."

Bowman doesn't hesitate to admit that a head coaching job is his ultimate goal. From his performance reviews in his first half-year on the job, it's a scenario that isn't difficult to imagine.

He has been almost everywhere else already. So why not make his position on the sidelines his final destination?

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