Tennessee basketball: Carter High alum Jordan Bowden has a special bond with his school

Around Carter High School, Jordan Bowden is still a familiar face, even a few years after he graduated. 

He can be found in the weight room, playing pick-up basketball with the Carter High School basketball team or visiting the special education classes, where he was a student assistant. 

"He makes it a priority to come here," Principal Angie Messer said. 

Jordan Bowden graduated Carter High School in 2015

Bowden, a Knoxville native, graduated from CHS in 2015, where he scored 932 points as a senior on the basketball team. After graduating, Bowden attended 22 Feet Academy and played for the prep school's national team.

Bowden, now a University of Tennessee junior, started playing for UT as a freshman in the 2016-2017 season.

Messer first met Bowden when he was in the 6th grade and she was the band director. Bowden played baritone and Messer taught him for two years before she moved across the parking lot to Carter High School. 

When Bowden was in middle school, Messer said he was "not the tallest kid in the class," but that didn't stop him from playing basketball. 

"Did I realize that he could end up on a No. 1 ranked NCAA basketball team? At that time, you don't know," Messer said. "I didn't know if he would or not, but we always encouraged him."

Messer said whenever Bowden comes back to visit, he's exactly the same and is "just a Carter High School kid." In December, Bowden was interviewed by reporters while wearing his old Carter High School basketball jersey. 

"It's nothing for Jordan to show up in our weight room, down at the field house, to show up in our locker room here at the high school, to show up at a ball game," Messer said. "He does stuff like that all the time."

Messer said despite his success at UT, Bowden is still humble and down to earth. 

"He's just a very humble guy, and I think that takes people a long way," Messer said. 

'A team player in every sense of the word'

Joby Boydstone, Bowden's basketball coach for his junior and senior years of high school, said Bowden was a team player and role model on and off the court. 

"If anybody was every a team player in every sense of the word, this kid was it," Boydstone said.

Boydstone said he's been in touch with Bowden throughout the season and tournament, and he hasn't "stopped coaching him."

Boydstone said he and Bowden have a saying: "If it's to be, let it be me," and he's used this to encourage Bowden to take control when playing at Tennessee.

"If he will take charge of his own game like he did at Carter, the sky's the limit," Boydstone said. 

'He's got a good head on his shoulders'

Robin Nelson, a teaching assistant in the special needs classroom, met Bowden when he was in middle school and friends with her son — "before he was Jordy Bow." 

"Jordan's a great kid," Nelson said. "He's got a good head on his shoulders, he's humble."

Nelson got a shoutout on Twitter earlier this month, when he said she was his favorite teacher. Nelson said it meant a lot to her to receive that recognition, and "it just made me feel good."

"I cried," Nelson said. "He's just such a good kid."

Now, when Bowden comes back to CHS, he stops by Nelson's classroom. Bowden and his sister both assisted in Nelson's classroom as peer tutors when they were in high school, so students know him from that.

Other students think he's famous because he's on TV, Nelson said. 

"He's really good with them," Nelson said. 

Delece Watson, a student in Nelson's class, met Bowden at CHS. When Bowden visited last month, the two took a picture together and discovered that Watson is taller than Bowden. 

"He's a good person," Watson said. "And he loves basketball."

Watson said he thinks Bowden is having a great season and encouraged him and the team to keep winning.

"Just keep the good work up," Watson said. 

Bowden is friendly, a goofball, students say

Current CHS basketball team players Gabe Harper, Ty Hurst and Colby Reynolds said Bowden has come back to the school and practiced with them, as well as played in pick-up games. 

"He remembers where he came from," Harper said. 

"It shows that we can come from a smaller school in Knoxville and go on and play D1 basketball," Hurst said. 

Bowden has encouraged them to work hard and "just have fun with it," Hurst said. Hurst said Bowden dances a lot with them, and Reynolds said he's funny and makes them laugh.

When Harper, Hurst and Reynolds were in middle school, the three would get to practice with the Carter High School team. 

"There was no comparison," Hurst said of Bowden. "He was the best one there."

"He's the best player on the court every time he steps on the floor," Harper said. 

The three agreed that Bowden is a great player, but Hurst was quick to point out one thing about his game. 

"He can't guard me," Hurst said. 

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