Former Notre Dame football player Adarius Bowman linked to Oklahoma State probe

photo Adarius Bowman

Former Notre Dame High School and Oklahoma State receiver Adarius Bowman received payments while playing in college, according to a Sports Illustrated report that was released Tuesday online.

Bowman, an undeniable talent who had 300 receiving yards in a 2006 win over Kansas, was among 29 Oklahoma State players named by former teammates as having taken money. In the first of a five-part series detailing alleged NCAA violations within OSU's football program from 2001 through at least 2011, Sports Illustrated also interviewed eight former players who admitted to directly receiving payments.

Sports Illustrated left messages for Bowman, but they were not returned, according to the article. Bowman has not returned messages left by the Chattanooga Times Free Press since April 1, 2008, when he was arrested in McMinn County on marijuana possession.

Bowman had been projected as a second-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft, but the arrest led to him not getting selected or receiving a free-agent contract. A month after that draft, Bowman signed with the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Calvin Mickens, a former OSU cornerback who was a teammate of Bowman from 2005 to '07, told Sports Illustrated that the two made multiple visits to a Stillwater businessman. Mickens told Sports Illustrated that he received about $500 a visit and that Bowman received "way more."

Sports Illustrated reported that payments to OSU football players were performance-based, provided directly by boosters after games or on trips, or through work performed. One former player said he earned $700 for working about an hour.

The 6-foot-3, 223-pound Bowman is in his sixth CFL season, having turned in his best year with Edmonton in 2011, when he had 62 receptions for 1,153 yards and a league-leading 18.6 yards per catch. He tore his ACL two games into the 2012 season and did not return to action until recently.

Bowman is the older brother of former Ridgeland receiver Michael Bowman, who signed with Alabama but was dismissed from the program, and former Ridgeland cornerback Devin Bowman, who is a redshirt sophomore at Georgia but has yet to play this season.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

Upcoming Events