In a period of six months, Blake Owens gained 18+ pounds of muscle and shed his guard-like tendencies, adapting to the intricacies of life in the post.
Owens, an Oklahoma native, polished up his game with intensified in-practice battles with Pittsburgh-commit Karim Coulibaly.
Subscribing to more of a true big man role, playing with his back to the rim, and pursuing 50-50 balls at a furious pace, Owens rapidly increased his toughness and knack for caroming rebounds.
As was the case with several prospects flanking him on Head Coach Chris Chaney’s 36-2 Scotland Knights squad, Owens sacrificed individual numbers for team aspirations.
On a significant percentage of other teams throughout the country, Owens has the skill-set to be a 20PPG and 10-15 RPG guy. Chaney’s No.1 nationally ranked Scotland team was known for its immense depth, as the team played 11 guys comfortably and was bolstered by balance in the scorebook.
With a stacked grouped of bigs which included senior strongman Jordon Jones, 6-foot-10 Chris Maidoh (who recently pulled in offers from St.Louis and St. Bonnies), and the aforementioned Coulibaly, Owens had a fight on his hands every practice.
A skinny turned shredded forward, Owens pieced together myriad double digit rebounding performances this season.
He was named GAC South Player of the Month for December, averaging 11.6 PPG and 8.3 RPG. Owens’ ability to finish ambidextrously and also score through hard contact were a significant portent of his incremental improvement.
There was dramatic improvement with Owens’ aptitude as an ambidextrous finisher. He became equally adept at locating mismatches and exploiting them, taking smaller defenders to the basket.
With his workmanlike style and ability to run the floor and provide second chance opportunities with his rebounding, Owens wound up top-5 in the team in total minutes played.
“Blake has been a steady rock for us all year,” explained Chris Chaney, whose season culminated with a championship game loss to a star-encrusted Brewster Academy national team at the 2019 Prep National Championships.
“With his length, determination, and motor, he continued his development. He really added on to his defensive toughness and nose for rebounding. The result has been a college-ready prospect.”
Chaney’s words certainly haven’t fallen on deaf ears.
Division-I Cal State Northridge is the most recent program to express considerable interest in Owens, who scored 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds in helping propel Putnam North (Okla.) to a 2018 state championship victory.
Another program that has reached out and appears highly interested is Salem International, a highly competitive Division-II program in West Virginia. Salem, which often gets Division-I transfers, registered a 17-9 overall record during the 2018-19 campaign.
