Ex-players: New OSU assistant makes big impact
Rapheal Davis had just finished eighth grade when he first heard from Jack Owens.
An eventual top-100 national recruit, Davis was playing AAU basketball for Spiece Indy Heat in 2008 and coach Jared Quarles when the newly hired Purdue assistant coach began to recruit him. Within a year, Davis committed to play for the Boilermakers as part of their class of 2012 and eventually become a cornerstone piece for a Purdue renaissance under coach Matt Painter.
Owens was the biggest reason Davis picked Purdue. Fourteen years into their relationship, Owens is starting his first season as an assistant coach at Ohio State and Davis is director of development for Purdue’s college of pharmacy, but the two remain linked.
In early May, Davis received a text message out of the blue from Quarles that read, simply, “I love Jack Owens. For real. As a person, he’s one of my favorite guys.” Nothing had happened to elicit the message, Davis said, other than the fact that Quarles and Owens were still close despite the former no longer having any real recruiting insights or value to offer.
“(Jared) said, ‘He just always has been (there). He always has real conversations and gives me advice about certain things,’ ” Davis said. “Something that simple where coach Owens doesn’t have to take his time to give advice or talk to certain individuals, but when he has a relationship with you it goes beyond the sport and what you could do for him.”
Now, after nine years at Purdue and five as Miami (Ohio)’s head coach, he’s doing it as a new assistant coach for the Buckeyes.
'Consistent message'
Like Davis, P.J. Thompson was just getting his prep basketball career started when he first met Owens. A point guard in the 2014 class, Thompson took his recruitment down to the wire before
committing in March of his senior year. Thompson said the Boilermakers were hot and cold during his recruitment due to a crowded projected depth chart in the backcourt, but he understood where he stood with the program because of Owens.
When he picked Purdue, Thompson said, it was in large part due to Owens’ honesty throughout the process.
“They told the truth,” Thompson, now director of player development for the Boilermakers, said. “Even when they were cold or they were hot on me, they told the truth and they told me why. Coach Owens, his constant communication throughout my high school career, even if they weren’t necessarily recruiting me and I played well, he’d let me know. He would do little things like that.”
Thompson fought his way into the rotation and became a three-year starter. He stuck with the Boilermakers because, whether they were aggressively recruiting him, backing off or somewhere in between, he said Owens remained the same guy in their encounters.
Davis said the same about his former coach.
“He was always real consistent with his message,” Davis said. “Just a real, genuine, down-to-earth guy. Some coaches make it known who they are, but coach O was always true to himself. If he said something, he’d not only say it but he meant it and he’d show you.”
That manifested itself in a number of ways. Davis said if he needed someone to rebound for him at 5 a.m. after a road trip, Owens would be the first call. Both players said he was so invested in film work, he would sometimes have players doze off when things ran a little long.
Thompson said that dedication was a two-way street. As a freshman, Thompson played heavy minutes during the non-conference slate but saw them halved as Big Ten play began. For one game, he let his film responsibilities slip, and Owens quickly called him on it.
“I might’ve played five minutes and coach O was like, ‘So you’re just not gonna watch your film?’ ” Thompson said. “I’m like, ‘What film is there to watch? I didn’t play. I played like five possessions.’ He got so mad at me. He was like, ‘That’s not what you do.’ ”
That’s not to say he couldn’t flash a temper, though.
Neither Davis nor Thompson could recall hearing Owens curse, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t tough on them. Davis was in his second year at Purdue when Owens has a few harsh words for his quality of play that would pay off one year later.
“He doesn’t have to be that (vulgar) guy to get the best out of you,” Davis said. “But also he’s had a time where he looked me dead in the face and told me I was the worst defensive player he had ever recruited, but that next season I won defensive player of the year in the Big Ten. That next year he spent every single day watching film with me to get better at it. He has that type of mindset that what you see is what you get.”