BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In his first official hire as the head coach of Lady Topper Basketball, Greg Collins announced on Friday afternoon that current Lady Topper graduate assistant Jhasmin Bowen will be promoted to a full-time assistant coach for the program effective immediately.
"In her two years as our GA, Jhasmin has done a great job of connecting with our players and doing everything that we as a staff have asked of her," Collins said of the promotion. "Being short an assistant in conference play this past season, she really stepped up for us and handled duties above and beyond what would normally be asked of her as a GA, and Jhasmin has proven herself more than deserving of joining our new staff that we are in the process of building."
Bowen has served as the graduate assistant for the Lady Toppers in each of the last two seasons, helping WKU to a 51-16 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances since arriving on The Hill. The Lady Toppers earned the C-USA regular season championship after a 16-2 record in conference play in 2016-17 and have claimed the C-USA Tournament championship following both of Bowen's seasons on staff.
Prior to arriving at WKU, Bowen enjoyed a four-year playing career at Arkansas and played under Collins, then an assistant coach with the Razorbacks, during her freshman season in 2011-12.
"Getting to see how Jhasmin has developed from her playing days and over the last two years working with her has shown me that she will be a perfect fit for this job," Collins said. "We want to keep things the same as much as we can to help our players, and having Jhasmin on staff will go a long way toward helping us in doing that."
Bowen, a native of Wichita, Kan., finished her career with the Razorbacks with six double-doubles and 37 double-digit scoring outings. The forward was named the MVP of the New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament as a junior in 2013-14 after netting 20 points against Southeast Missouri State.
As a senior in 2014-15, Bowen scored in double figures in 15 games, including a career-best 21 points in a win on the road at Alabama. Bowen picked up a double-double in SEC play with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Missouri while also accomplishing the feat against Nicholls State (12 points, 10 rebounds) and at Tulsa (17 points, 12 rebounds).
In high school, Bowen starred at Wichita Heights High School as a three-time all-city selection for the Falcons. As a 2011 McDonald's All-America nominee, Bowen led the Falcons to the 6A state championship and tallied 23 points to lead all scorers in the title game. In addition to those honors, Bowen was also a two-time First Team All-State selection, a First Team All-Metro selection and was named Vype Magazine's best player for the state of Kansas as a senior.
Bowen earned her bachelor's degree in marketing from Arkansas in 2015 and is currently pursuing a master's degree at WKU.
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