Christian Bower should be a household UH name
Christian Bower
Anyone involved in UH Arizona may see this and disregard it, as Christian Bower is one of the most recognizable names in the region. He started playing in the Fall of 2015 and has racked up 281 career games.
I’m not speaking to just UH Arizona here though, as I think Bower should be well-know across UH Nation; there should be players in Raleigh talking about how good he is.
The last time I did an article of this nature I featured Shane Coleman out of UH Boston. Coleman has played in 231 fewer games than Bower, so an article may have been more necessary for someone as new as Coleman.
Bower has gotten national attention before, as he played in the past three Las Vegas National Tournament’s, starring in the most recent one for Private Lessons on their run to the semifinals. He was also named to the All-Time Arizona UH Team by Chris Walker, and his incredible 2018 season earned him a spot on my 2018 All-Ultimate Hoops Team.
That isn’t enough though. Bower is one of the best players in all of Ultimate Hoops, and he’s putting together another great season at the moment. He’s playing in the draft leagues in Gilbert and Tempe, and he’s routinely showing up in the “Top Performers” portion of the leagues website, most recently showing up for his 38/6/10 performance in a 100-80 win in Tempe last night. Here is a look at his averages in both leagues thus far this season:
Gilbert: 37/4.5/11 with shooting splits of 70/55/57
Tempe: 32/8/11.3 with shooting splits of 63/43/92
His combined averages of 34/6.6/11.2 this season are improvements in every statistical category compared to his career averages in 144 games in draft leagues, where he’s averaged 28/5.7/9.3. These numbers have also translated to a combined 4-1 record in the five games he’s played in both leagues.
He’s been a staple in Arizona draft leagues since they took off in the Winter of 2017, and his teams have routinely had success. He’s played on 13 different teams over that span, and the average seed of his teams entering the statewide draft tournament has been 6.9. He’s gotten to at least the semifinals of the tournament with eight of those 13 teams, advanced to the championship game five times and won two titles.
He’s arguably the most successful player in Arizona draft history, and while he’s regarded as a legend in UH Arizona, he needs to be recognized by the entire nation as such too.