UNI men's basketball's Bowen Born enters the NCAA transfer portal

Northern Iowa men's basketball's Bowen Born will enter the transfer portal, the guard announced Tuesday on Instagram.

"Coming to UNI was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made, and deciding to leave was one of the hardest," Born wrote. "I love UNI and to my core and have loved everything about this program, including my coaches, teammates, support staff and managers.

"Coach (Ben) Jacobson is one of the most important people in my life and will always be someone I look to for guidance. I could not be more thankful for our time together.

"But as I graduate from UNI in May, I believe it is time for a change in my life. It's incredibly hard to say goodbye to a program I've loved and given my all to these past four years, so it is with mixed emotions that I will be playing my last year of college basketball elsewhere.

"I'm proud to be a Panther and receive my degree from UNI. I will cherish my years in Cedar Falls forever. Thank you to everyone for making this part of my journey so special."

The Norwalk native played all four years of his college career with the Panthers, starting 89 of his 118 played games. Born averaged 12.6 points, 2.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game on 39.8/34.5/85.4 shooting splits, and most notably was named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, MVC Sixth Man of the Year in 2021-22 and Second Team All-MVC in 2022-23.

He finished his UNI career among the top-10 scorers in program history (1,486 points) and ranks fourth in 3-pointers made 209).

Born's best season came as a junior in 2022-23, in which he averaged career highs in both points (17.9) and assists (2.7) per game before dropping to 13.3 and 1.8, respectively, as a senior.

Born was a two-star recruit coming out of Norwalk High School, according to 247Sports, following a career that saw him be named Iowa's Mr. Basketball, Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year, first-team All-State and All-Tournament Team Captain at the state tournament.

As a senior in high school, Born averaged 36.4 points per game, shot 54.4% from the field and 40.6% from deep. He ranks sixth all-time in the state of Iowa in scoring (2,494 points).

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UNI basketball's Bowen Born enters the NCAA transfer portal