Bowser Decides to Return to CSUN Basketball Team

The area underneath the basket at the Cal State Northridge gymnasium hasn’t gotten any smaller, but it may well appear that way because The Incredible Bulk has returned.

Todd Bowser, for three seasons the Matadors’ pivotal player in the pivot, is back on the Northridge basketball team.

Bowser, 6-foot-8, 300 pounds-and-counting, left the team a year ago--before the 1989-90 season began--citing “personal reasons.” He averaged 10.7 points and six rebounds a game in three seasons after signing with Northridge out of Montclair Prep in 1986.

“Nobody made me leave and nobody made me come back,” said Bowser, who attended classes at CSUN last year but did not compete in athletics. “I have one year left to play basketball and a whole life to coach and do other things. I guess in my mind I always knew I should finish it out.”

On Monday, Bowser rejoined the Matadors for unsupervised afternoon workouts. “I’m happy to have him back,” Coach Pete Cassidy said.

Bowser’s return takes on added importance because Northridge will be without 6-7 forward Percy Fisher, the team’s top newcomer as a freshman last season. Fisher, who became a top shot-blocker by season’s end, is academically ineligible.

“He was our most improved player and our top freshman off last year’s ballclub,” said Cassidy, whose team finished 12-15 in 1989-90, its last season on the Division II level. “It’s a big blow.”

Fisher is enrolled at Northridge and could regain his eligibility for the second semester and the majority of the basketball season. Until then, Bowser, among others, will attempt to fill the void.

“I think it’s a great thing,” Cassidy said. “Here’s a guy who didn’t want to look back 10 years from now and wonder, ‘What if . . . ‘ I’m happy. I’ve always been fond of Todd and I know he can help us.

“He’s very tough positioning people up, he draws fouls, he shoots well from the (free-throw) line, and despite his girth, he’s always run the floor pretty well. He’s going to help our ballclub, no doubt.”

There’s just one not-so-minor matter left to contend with: getting fit.

“He’s in terrible shape,” Cassidy said. “He’s very strong because he’s been pumping iron, but his cardiovascular system has not been conditioned for basketball. But he has such great work ethic that my greatest fear is he’ll try to get it all done at once.”

Bowser, who in July married former CSUN volleyball player Franci Bowman, said that regaining playing shape is “going to be a helluva thing to do.”