Bowden out as Ike’s hoops coach

Lawton Public Schools have reportedly terminated Eisenhower High School head boys basketball coach DeAnthony Bowden after it was learned that the native of Indiana pleaded guilty to a felony charge in 2008.

Bowden wound up in Lawton when he signed to play for the Lawton Cavalry, a former semi-pro team in the old Continental Basketball League.

Most recently Bowden was coaching at the now-defunct Lawton Christian School and then was hired two years ago to serve as an assistant to Brandon Kephart, former Ike head boys coach who is now an assistant principal at Ike High.

Bowden, a former standout at Creighton, was playing for the Gary (Ind.) Steelheads of the CBA when the original charges for brought.

At the time, Bowden was 28 when he and a friend broke into the home of his child’s mother and beat up her boyfriend.

Bowden pleaded guilty to the April of 2008 crime of felony battery, court records state.

In return for Bowden’s guilty plea, Lake County prosecutors agreed to drop nine other felonies—three counts of criminal confinement and one count each of burglary, intimidation, battery, pointing a firearm, criminal recklessness and residential entry—for the April 29 crime in Hammond, records show.

Bowden was removed from the Steelheads roster shortly after he was charged in the case but added that he signed a contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder to continue his basketball career.

“It was definitely a dumb situation on my behalf,” Bowden said during his sentencing in 2008. “I used my heart instead of my brain. I was viewed as a role model in my career, and I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez said he noted Bowden’s demeanor and sincerity before sentencing him to probation rather than jail time.

Defense attorney Jewel Harris and Deputy Prosecutor Shante Henry, on behalf of the victim, sought probation time for Bowden.

“You really are the kind of person we don’t expect to see here,” Vasquez told Bowden. “You have no business being here.”

The judge sentenced Bowden to eight hours a month of community service for every month he is on probation.

“It will be a constant reminder you screwed up before and a reminder not to screw up again,” Vasquez said.

Bowden also had a restitution hearing Jan. 13, 2009, to determine the out-of-pocket cost of the victim’s medical bills.

Bowden and Quincy Taylor, 28, of Gary, broke into the woman’s home through a window and found the woman in bed with her boyfriend, prosecutors said.

Taylor also was charged with the same nine felonies, records show.

Lawton Public Schools Executive Director of Communications Lynn Cordes declined to comment regarding the Bowden situation and told The Constitution she would be sharing more information upon the selection of a new coach.