Every week leading up to the reveal of the nominees for the Class of 2020 for the Ultimate Hoops Hall of Fame, we’ll feature a possible candidate for the upcoming induction class. None of these articles will focus on anyone who has already been nominated for the Hall of Fame but has yet to be inducted. If you want to learn more about those candidates, you can visit the Hall of Fame section of our blog.

Today we’re focusing on UH Arizona veteran Christian Bower.

The Case For Bower

Bower just became eligible for the Hall of Fame a couple weeks ago, surpassing 300 games in fewer than five years. Most players wouldn’t merit an article on the possibility of their Hall of Fame candidacy right after they become eligible, but Bower absolutely deserves the discourse.

The main case for Bower is his current status as the G.O.A.T. of UH Arizona draft leagues. Over the past three years, the multiple draft leagues in Arizona have become some of the largest in all of UH Nation, and over the course of those three years, there’s not one player that has consistency combined great stats and team success more than Bower. In 168 career games in draft leagues (more than any one else in UH Arizona history), Bower has averaged 28.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 9.4 assists with shooting percentage splits of 58/43/78, which has translated into three draft titles (something no one else has ever done).

The three titles and the numbers are what stands out, but one thing that is incredible about his career is his dedication, durability and consistency. Bower has played in more draft league games than anyone else in Arizona because he’s been playing since Winter 2017, the first draft season, and he routinely plays in multiple draft leagues, rarely missing games. He also routinely makes deep runs in the drat tournament, which adds a few more games each season.

His draft dominance is the headliner, but Bower had success in Arizona open leagues before the draft takeover, as well as a few good runs in the Las Vegas National Tournament. He won one open title, which came in the Winter of 2016 with the Splash Brothers, as he helped them go 12-0 on their way to the championship. His longest run in the national tournament came last year, as he helped Private Lessons get to the semifinals.

The case against Bower

It’s early, and in all likelihood, too early. Bower’s career in a vacuum is Hall of Fame-worthy, but he has a few candidates out of Arizona to wait behind, as well as plenty of other candidates who have been around a few years longer.

The only other cases that are similar to Bower’s are Adam Bickerstaff and Paris Kyles, who both got inducted with fewer games that Bower currently has (the threshold to be eligible went from 200 games to 300 games this year). Bickerstaff got inducted last year after just reaching 200 games, but he introduced Ultimate Hoops to the most dominant franchise we’ve ever seen, and the national tournament has changed because of it. Kyles had about 50 fewer games than Bower currently has, but he won back-to-back national tournament MVPs, has some of the best stats at the national level, had six more titles than Bower and has similar career stats.

Bower is a Hall of Famer, no doubt about it, it’s just unlikely to become official this year.