BY BOO NEWSOME
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
LEXINGTON — Former Sheldon Clark High School basketball star and 1991 Miss Kentucky Basketball, Ida Bowen, is set to be inducted into the Dawahares/KHSAA Class of 2024 Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will take place Sunday, April 28, at the Central Bank Center Ballroom in Lexington.
This year’s induction adds 12 members to the Dawahares/KHSAA Hall of Fame, bringing the total to 517 since its establishment in 1988.
Bowen will join other Martin County Dawahares/KHSAA Hall of Fame members Russ Williamson (Class of 1988), Billy Ray Cassady (Class of 2002), and Robin Harmon-Newsome (Class of 2009).
Bowen starred at Sheldon Clark High School from 1987 to 1991. She was first-team all-state in 1990 and 1991 and two-time Louisville Courier-Journal and Lexington Herald-Leader All-State selection after being named her team’s MVP on three occasions.
The 6-foot-1, lanky, silky player scored 2,385 points, tallied 1,268 career rebounds and shot 56% from the field. She averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots per game as a senior in 1990-1991, shooting 61.4% from the field. She led Sheldon Clark to 15th Region titles in 1990 and 1991 and is the only girls player from Martin County to win Miss Kentucky Basketball. She led the Kentucky All-Stars to a sweep over Indiana her senior year.
Bowen went on to play for the 1991-1992 NCAA runner-up Western Kentucky University Lady Tops. WKU defeated Alabama, Tennessee and Maryland, going on to top Missouri State in the Final Four to advance to the championship game against Stanford. WKU also won the Sun Belt tournament that season and was the regular season co-champion, going 27-4.
After college, Bowen played professional basketball in Finland.
Along with Bowen, the Class of 2024 includes include Larry “Cotton” Adams (coach, Corbin), Barry Barnes (official), Mark Evans (coach, Mercy Academy, Oldham County), Joe Dan Gold (contributor), Larry “Pee Wee” Gumm (coach, Green County), Debbie Judd (coach, Assumption), Donna Robinson-Wilson (coach, Henry Clay), Ty Rogers (athlete, Lyon County), Brandon Stockton (athlete, Glasgow), Dan Swartz (athlete, Owingsville), and Todd Tackett (athlete, Paintsville).