BLADENBORO — John Bowen is a grateful young man.
Though he and his family never showed symptoms for the coronavirus, they were quarantined together for 14 days. That ended Saturday, two weeks after he was in a basketball game for UNC Wilmington in Washington, D.C., with a referee working who later tested positive for COVID-19.
“Whenever the news broke out, a lot of people called me and texted me and was making sure I was OK,” Bowen said. “That was good to see.”
He experienced a number of emotions while with his parents, John and Pamela Bowen.
“At first, I was in shock,” said the former West Bladen High School cager. “I just didn’t expect that to happen. The referee looked fine, he was running around as usual. I was a little shocked by that.
“Then, a little bit of fear took over, because I was around my parents. My dad has underlying health conditions. So the fear set in. I hoped I didn’t have it and not know it. But my parents convinced me it was all fine. Luckily, thank God, throughout the week none of us had any symptoms. No fever, no symptoms.”
Not only was Bowen quarantined, but so was every member of the Seahawks traveling party. All endured the two weeks and emerged with no positive cases.
On March 7, the virus was in the U.S. but the largest worry was still mostly in the state of Washington with concern of how it might spread from there. On that Saturday, UNCW lost its opening game to Drexel 66-55 in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Bowen was courtside throughout, never getting into the game.
The team bused back to Wilmington, and he returned home to Bladenboro. On Wednesday, the former Belmont Abbey standout traveled to Charlotte to see friends, stayed overnight, then got the call about the referee.
“As soon as I heard that, I immediately went back home to Bladenboro and stayed at home the whole time,” Bowen said.
It was also on that Wednesday night and Thursday that the entire sports entertainment world in North America began shutting down, following an NBA player’s positive test and the league suspending the season.
Since then, social media has been filled with how people are finding ways while quarantined to entertain themselves, their families or their pets.
“My dad was home for a week working,” Bowen said “Me and him, we did a lot of work around the house — some landscaping around the house. I have also started a YouTube channel, so I came up with some ideas for it.
“Some of my friends, we did push-up challenges. I read books and played video games. And then I would find any way I can to do some working out.”
He texted and talked to teammates. Their emotional run to a 10-22 ledger included the firing of head coach C.B. McGrath on Jan. 13, and a 5-8 worksheet under energetic interim head coach Rob Burke.
While the team was quarantined, N.C. State assistant Takayo Siddle was brought back to UNCW to lead the program. That announcement came the day after the team learned about the possibility of infection. Bowen said he got the news in a text, and a call from Siddle in less than 24 hours — a process that is usually a team meeting and introduction.
“Coach called and got to talk to me, we’re starting to know each other,” he said. “I like the way he was able to find ways to reach out to the team. I talked to him on the phone, and he talked to my parents.
“We found ways to make it work. We’re really excited for him coming in. All three years he’s coached in the CAA, he’s won a championship of some sort. He knows what it takes to win.”
Bowen has already returned to Wilmington to get his things from his dorm room at Seahawk Crossing and is back in Bladenboro. He’s finishing the semester with classes through the internet.
Bowen got out of quarantine just as a fair number of businesses began to temporarily stop operating, or were forced to close. He’s grateful for his health, but worried for Bladen County.
“My heart goes out to all the small family-owned businesses, people who may have gotten laid off,” he said. “It’s really heart-breaking.”
John Bowen says he found a number of things to do while quarantined with his family, including a bit of landscaping with his dad. He also generated some ideas for a YouTube channel he has started.