The Bowz: King Kong of the Key : Montclair Man-Mountain Is Top Rebounder, Shooter

To his teammates on the Montclair Prep basketball team, 6-8, 270-pound center Todd Bowser is known variously as The Bowz, the Gentle Giant or the one-man Twin Towers.

To opponents, Bowser is probably known as the Human Mountain Range and other, less flattering monikers.

To some college recruiters, the bespectacled junior is what is known as a project.

He’s kind of the Mark Eaton of Valley basketball. He has the size and tools to play Division I college basketball, but he’s a still a little rough ( round might be a better word) around the edges.

Unlike the 7-4 Eaton, a substitute at UCLA who was eventually groomed for National Basketball Assn. success, Bowser has an interesting option. An all-Southern Section nose guard for the Mounties last season--”I can plug up a hole,” Bowser says--he will also be recruited for college football.

It’s a safe bet that Bowser will be offered a scholarship in some sport. Big gifted athletes don’t grow on trees.

They just grow. And Bowser, who is only 16, will undoubtedly grow another inch or two as he contemplates the alternatives during the next year.

But right now, basketball keeps The Bowz busy. The Mounties, who are 20-1 and ranked No. 2 in the Southern Section 1-A Division, are locked in a title fight in the Alpha League. Montclair, which is 12-1 in league, leads L.A. Baptist, which is 11-2, by one game with one to play.

The two teams meet tonight at Montclair to decide the champion. The Knights are the only team to beat the Mounties this season.

It’s been a while since Montclair Coach Howard Abrams has had a title-contending team. Without Bowser, the coach would likely still be waiting. The big guy is averaging 21.8 points a game and leads Valley-area players in rebounds (14.4 average) and field goal percentage (67%). He’s scored 25 points or more 11 times this season.

“He’ll have all of Montclair’s records before he’s done,” Abrams, 34, said.

No one would have ventured such a statement three years ago when a chubby, 6-5 freshman with size 16 triple-E sneakers walked into the Montclair gymnasium in Van Nuys to try out for the basketball team.

“We thought he’d be on JV before we saw him play,” said Abrams, who is in his ninth year at Montclair. “But we re-evaluated real quick and put him on the varsity.”

Bowser was voted second team all-league as a freshman, then gained first-team honors last year after averaging 20 points and 17 rebounds in leading the Mounties to a third-place Alpha League finish. If Montclair makes it to the 1-A finals this season, Bowser is a good bet to win division player of the year.

“The Bowz is going to carry us (in the playoffs),” Abrams said. “He’s definitely our leader. People look to him when we get in trouble.”

And he’s usually easy to find--despite defenses designed to stop him.

“They really gang up on him,” Abrams said, “but he doesn’t sulk. He’ll just work hard to get the ball.”

Sometimes too hard. In his first two seasons at Montclair, Bowser was in constant foul trouble. This year he has learned to control his body better and is spending less time on the bench and more on the court.

“Being a house inside the key, if he just reached over and touched somebody, they’d go flying like a bowling pin,” Abrams said.

Controlling his body took some work. Controlling his temper came naturally. Despite facing two--and sometimes three--opponents each game who are determined to out-muscle him, Bowser remains strangely calm and non-aggressive.

“He’s like a nice King Kong,” Abrams said. “He doesn’t want to hurt anybody. Maybe we should teach him to growl or something.

“Every practice, he gets his glasses knocked off,” Abrams added. “It’s just like what people do to a dirty wrestler. They grab him, push him--anything to stop him. But he doesn’t take things personally.”

But be forewarned. Even the Gentle Giant has his breaking point.

“I don’t go out looking to push people around, but I’ll retaliate,” Bowser said.

Bowser plays the low post in Abrams’ offense, so most of his shots come from inside 10 feet. Surprisingly, however, he has dunked only once this season.

“He’s just a little bit away from turning around and crushing it,” Abrams said.

The junior co-captain has the ability to shoot from the perimeter and, unless he grows several more inches, will likely have to if he expects to play major college basketball.

Bowser could start today at a number of small colleges, but if he hopes to play NCAA Division I basketball, he has his work cut out for him. Bowser’s critics claim he needs to improve his lateral defensive movement, speed and jumping ability--and should lose about 30 pounds.

Bowser is aware of his liabilities and is working hard to improve his overall game.

He will attend a special “superstar” basketball camp this summer for the area’s best high school players. Plus, he is getting a lot of help from what insiders call Montclair’s “UCLA connection.”

Abrams’ assistant coach is Bob Webb, who played (mostly sat, actually) for coach John Wooden’s Bruins from 1972-1974 while the team won two national titles. One of Webb’s teammates on the ’73 and ’74 teams was Larry Farmer, the former UCLA coach, and the two remain friends.

“When I run into something I don’t understand, I give him a call and ask him how to handle things,” Webb said.

Farmer has also had the opportunity to watch Bowser play this season.

“To be Division I, he needs to be able to face the basket a little better and improve his shooting range and lateral mobility,” Farmer said. “But that usually goes hand-in-hand with being a big kid. You take a kid that size and he looks awkward when he’s younger, but then he grows and matures. You never know when he’s going to put it all together.”

Another part of the UCLA connection is former Van Nuys High star Gavin Smith, who played with Webb on the Bruins’ ‘74 club. The 6-6 1/2, 215-pound Smith has played against Bowser in practice the last two years, working with him on things like rebound positioning.

“I met Todd when he was 15. I said ‘My goodness, this is a full-grown man-child,’ ” said Smith, a two-time all-City performer. “The improvement I’ve seen (in Bowser’s play) from last year to this is just incredible. God he’s a big, strong kid. It takes all my power just to keep up with him.”

That’s exactly how Bowser’s opponents must feel. And things won’t be any easier for them next year when the Mounties center returns for his senior season. He’s only going to be bigger, stronger and better.

“The Bowz is an institution around here,” Abrams said. “When they see him coming, people know to widen the doors and take off the hinges.”