On Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Brian Bowen was living the life of a highly touted basketball player coveted by several top colleges.
His high school team, La Lumiere School, toured the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., and played a game on national television. Its jerseys and warm-up jackets displayed the logo of Nike, the sneaker company that sponsored La Lumiere, a private school from La Porte, Ind. About a dozen reporters waited for Bowen, a lanky 6-foot-7 wing, after the game.
He was an important subject: Bowen was one of the most prominent recruits in the Class of 2017 who had yet to commit to a college.