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Here's his player bio.

Bowie was the son of Ben Bowie, a member of the Harlem Magicians (a Globetrotters rip-off). Sadly, Bowie died while Sam was in college. Sam talked about how much he loved his father regularly.

As a high school phenom, he came within 1 point of the Pennsylvania state title as a junior and was considered the best high school center in America as a senior -- which, considering Ralph Sampson was in high school at the time, is high praise.

At Kentucky, Bowie was a force his first two years, putting up 12.9 ppg/8.1 rpg/2.1 bpg his freshman year and 17.5/9.1/2.9 his sophomore year. In that sophomore year -- in which he was an All-American -- he set a school record with nine blocks against St. John's. The record still stands but has since been equaled. Unfortunately, March Madness was a bugaboo for the Cats -- they ran into old foe Duke his freshman year, and got upset by Bartow's UAB Blazers his sophomore year.

Bowie was so dominant that he was named to the US Olympic team during a time when college all-stars represented the country. Unfortunately, the year he was named was 1980 -- the Soviets decided to overrun Afghanistan, and the US and several other nations responded by withdrawing from the Moscow Games. To make up for it, the US Olympic team faced a few NBA squads that summer. Bowie averaged 11.6/6.9/2.3 over six such games, leading the team to a 5-1 record.

In the summer of 1981, Bowie visited team doctors for what everyone assumed was shin splints. Nope, it turns out he'd been playing on a stress fracture in his leg for the end of the year. Surgery followed, but it wasn't very helpful. The injury got so bad Bowie needed a bone graft. As a result, he missed all of the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons, but got a redshirt for one of them (doesn't matter which), allowing him to compete as a fifth-year senior for 1983-84.

Despite two years away from the game, Bowie was still a double-double guy in the frontcourt. Thanks in large part to his burden being shared with Mel Turpin, he was able to play every game his senior year, putting up 10.5/9.2/1.9 and once again being named All-American. This time, with help from outside shooter Kenny Walker, Kentucky was a force in the tournament, advancing to the Final Four. There, however, they were shut down by a Ewing-led Georgetown squad, but not due to lack of production from Bowie, who had 10/11/2 and held Ewing to 8/9/0 in the loss.

All in all, Bowie's Wildcat career averages were stellar (13.4/8.8/2.3/1.4 apg/70 FG%) and it's with good reason his #31 hangs in the Rupp Arena rafters.

In his rookie season in the NBA, Bowie looked like he would be a solid long-term player, putting up 10.0/8.6 and being named to the All-Rookie team. But then (just as with other Blazers post men Bill Walton and Greg Oden), injuries piled up. Over the next four years, Bowie dealt with on-court leg breaks to both legs (including a gnarly compound fracture of his right tibia in Season 3), missing 80% of Portland's games. It's been speculated that he may have rushed back from injuries in an attempt to prove his worth.

Portland gave up on him in the 1989 offseason, trading him along with a draft pick to New Jersey for Buck Williams. In Jersey, Bowie became an efficient player, avoiding the injury bug and stringing together four quality seasons. In 1989-90, he had 14.7/10.1, his only season average double-double. In 1991-92, he averaged 15 ppg. The next season, he had 9.1/7.0 while playing all but three of the Nets' games.