LB Bowen talks S. Carolina visit, future plans

Linebacker Manny Bowen is a hot commodity in the recruiting world. The Barnegat (N.J.) stand out doesn't take many visits but last weekend he was able to make it down to South Carolina.

"It was good," said the 6-foot-2, 206-pound Bowen. "I got down there on Saturday. We got a tour of the facilities, saw the campus and I watched the camp. I met coach Spurrier and saw what life is like on campus.

"A lot of things stuck out to me about the visit," he said. "I like their achievements in academics over the past few years with their players. They had the number one draft pick this year. I like their defense and their schemes.

"I also like the relationship I have with the coaches there," Bowen said. "I was mainly talking with coach Mangus but I met every coach there including my position coach, coach Botkin. I feel like we have a pretty good relationship."

Many people think Penn State is Bowen's leader but he says that none of his schools are in the lead.

"I'm pretty open in my recruitment and there isn't one school I'm leaning towards," he said. "I'm open to all of the schools that have offered me and I want to take a lot of other visits. I still need to plan out more visits but I will be at Penn State this weekend. There is a cook out up there and I'm looking forward to being on campus again."

So far Bowen has only visited Penn State, South Carolina, Rutgers and Maryland so he says it is difficult to make accurate comparisons.

"All the schools I've visited were great and they match up equally in my book," said Bowen. "They are hard to compare because some are in the SEC and some are in the Big Ten. They are different types of football."

Bowen does know of a few other schools he wants to visit.

"I'm trying to make it out to more schools on my list," he said. "I'm in no rush to commit. I want to visit Michigan State, Miami and maybe some others. As time goes on I will have to plan those visits but there isn't anything set"

Bowen's teammate Sam Madden committed to Wisconsin over the weekend.