Basketball is a thread weaving generations of the Bowling family together.
Don Bowling’s connection to the game has been magnified by coaching his twin sons, Don Bowling III and Raymond, on the Anderson High School basketball team the past two seasons.
“They didn’t need much prodding at all,” the elder Bowling said of his sons’ commitment to the sport. “I think they just grew up in it, going to games. My wife and I, we would always take them to the games that I was coaching.”
The Bowling family tree has several coaching branches. Don’s uncle coached at Earlham after playing for Del Harris, who went on to win more than 500 NBA games coaching the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. Don’s father was a standout at Kokomo High School and went on to play at Ball State.
“My family was just always involved in the game,” Don said. “It was easy to start loving the game.”
Don III — the oldest twin by three minutes — was slightly slower to embrace the game than his younger brother. His main interest was in his toy action figure collection, he said — at least it was until he reached middle school.
“That was when I started focusing on basketball and realizing that I just liked the hard work of playing the game and my dad pushing me,” he said.
Raymond’s passion for the game was evident at an earlier age. He recalls spending hours a day shooting on a miniature hoop at the family’s home. A framed montage of photos on the wall of his father’s office shows the brothers as toddlers behind the bench while their father coached middle school basketball in the early 2010s.
“I always had a basketball in my hand,” Raymond said with a smile. “I’d go to his games all the time, throughout middle school and elementary school. I was like, I want to be a basketball player — this looks fun.”
The elder Bowling has enjoyed success at each of his coaching stops, compiling a 214-111 overall record, including a 106-38 mark at Anderson. His sons said they’ve appreciated the unique vantage point they’ve had to understand where his success originates.
“He works really hard every day,” Don III said. “When I was younger, I just watched him work really hard, and I got motivated to work and become a really hard worker.”
Coaching his sons has required Don to adjust his approach, both as their father and their mentor on the court.
“I think I’m getting better at it now,” he said. “You just have to really look at it from their standpoint: At the end of the day, look at what’s best for them and their full potential, because mentally you don’t want to put a strain on them where they actually don’t enjoy it anymore.”
Both boys said their father’s expectations for them are no different than what they expect from themselves — both as students and as basketball players.
“Go hard every day, play hard every possession,” Don III said. “Usually, everything’s just going to work itself out.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.