Texas now in touch with Rivals100 LB Drayk Bowen

This week, 2023 linebacker Drayk Bowen was named to the Rivals100, checking in at a lofty No. 16 on the list.

Also this week, Bowen has been in touch with the Texas Longhorn staff, having conversations with assistant coaches Jeff Banks and Jeff Choate.

“They watched my film, said they really liked it,” Bowen said. “They just said they want to talk to me more. It feels pretty good, just knowing that they like me as a player. That’s a big-time program, so it feels pretty good.”

Texas hasn’t offered yet as the relationship between the two sides is just beginning, but Bowen said the Longhorns would be a program that would draw consideration if Texas does continue to recruit him. A two-sport athlete who also excels at baseball, Bowen is very familiar with UT’s reputation in both sports.

“They would be very-much considered. They would probably be up there (if they offered),” Bowen said. “I’d definitely consider them as an option. Their football program, they compete at a high level. If they would allow me to do both, the baseball program is also very good. My dad actually lived in Texas and I have family down there too.”

The 6-2, 215-pound Bowen said he’s doing a lot of research on all the schools that are recruiting him because he’d like to find a program that’s successful both in football and baseball. Because of that, it takes even more time to process which schools could be suitable options.

“That’s definitely been a big part of my evaluations of schools I like, am interested in. I would say a lot of schools have one that’s good, one that’s bad. Some, they’re both good. It’s a lot more work to know what schools do what well,” Bowen said.

Out of Merrillville (IN) Andrean, Bown was born in Michigan but he actually has some distant connections to the state of Texas and the UT program. His father lived in Texas at one point and Bowen used to watch the Longhorns quite a bit when he was younger.

Bowen is hoping things continue to progress with Texas, and he said there’s a chance he could swing down to Austin at some point if his baseball travels bring him down south.

“We travel a lot with baseball. Hopefully a lot of where we go with baseball will help with travels. We go to a lot of places in the south, so I’ll try to visit some southern schools while I’m there,” Bowen said.