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Notre Dame Football

Drayk Bowen Embracing Aggressive Schedule at Notre Dame

March 15, 2023
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The busiest man on Notre Dame’s campus this spring is early enrollee freshman Drayk Bowen as he jumped headfirst into his baseball and football career while also going to class. 

For most, the adjustment to college is tough and for student-athletes balancing a schedule becomes a learning moment. Bowen has to do double and triple the amount of work, but the Indiana native has found his groove two months into college.

“It was a little challenging at first because I wasn’t used to the football workouts,” stated Bowen. “Those were super tiring, so I would be super tired from those. Then having to go to baseball for three or four hours at the end of the day. Those first couple weeks were super challenging for me.

“Once it kind of settled down, I got used to the football workouts. I got a more solid routine with baseball. I was able to really calm down. I was able to manage those really well.” 

Bowen didn’t include the recovery hours he puts in after practice whether it’s working on flexibility, stretching or simple ice baths, so the hours add up, but the aggressive schedule is exactly what he wanted when going through the recruiting process. 

And yes, Bowen’s first day of classes was an eye-opener as one would expect. 

“My first day that I had football, baseball and class,” Bowen said of his welcome to college moment. “The football workout, I had never done anything like that with the intensity that they did it at. Class, I walked into the hardest class I’ve ever taken in school, microeconomics. I had a meeting, which is pretty easy because there is nothing to do. Then I walked into marketing which wasn’t too bad. As soon as that got done, I went straight to baseball. That was the biggest and most challenging day of my time here.” 

The baseball and football programs have welcomed Bowen in with open arms, but the next step will be to dress for Shawn Stiffler’s Fighting Irish. Stiffler has chosen to not travel Bowen over the first month of the year as he adjusts to college and life will become busier as spring football starts on March 22nd. 

“I am not traveling right now,” stated Bowen. “Coach Stiffler hasn’t said anything more related to that. I do not know about home games. We haven’t talked about that. It’s mainly making sure I’m good academically and making sure I’m getting adjusted to college pitching.” 

Bowen has also seen his body change over the first eight weeks with Matt Balis. He’s down five pounds of fat, while adding four pounds of muscle, which was the goal coming into the spring

“I knew it was going to happen because of the way they make us eat,” explained Bowen. “At home, we don’t have the same type of supplements and foods that they have here. It was a lot easier to find better options for eating and sacking and stuff like that than it was at home. You can’t just go grab a protein shake whenever you want at home. You have to go to the store or bring a bunch back to your house. It’s little things like that you don’t really think about that actually make a big difference.”

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