Ryan Bowen never had the itch to be a head coach.

The Fort Madison High School graduate was perfectly content in his role as assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association, a role he has had for the past 10 seasons.

But when the opportunity presented itself to be a head coach, it was too good an offer to pass up.

Bowen officially signed to become the next head coach of the Grand Rapids Gold, the Nuggets’ NBA G League affiliate, on Monday afternoon.

The Gold are the reigning NBA G League champions.

Bowen is excited for the opportunity to expand his coaching skills and help the Nuggets in a new capacity.

“It’s definitely a great opportunity,” said Bowen, a 1994 graduate of Fort Madison High School who went on to play for the University of Iowa and the Denver Nuggets. “I’m excited to get the chance to be a head coach again. I got a chance to be a head coach in Las Vegas in the NBA Summer League three years ago. It’s fun to get the chance to run my own show again and see what I can do to help these players develop and get them ready to play for the Nuggets.”

Bowen, a 6-foot-9 power forward, was a second-round draft pick of the Denver Nuggets in the 1998 NBA draft, but he played his rookie season at Oyak Renault in the Turkish Basketball League before joining the Nuggets in 1999.

He played five seasons with the Nuggets.

Bowen spent two seasons with the Houston Rockets and one with the New Orleans Hornets, then had a brief stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

At Iowa, Bowen finished in the top 10 of career blocks and rebounds, and continues to hold the record in career steals. In his senior year at Iowa, Bowen averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

After his playing career, Bowen returned to Iowa City to become the video coordinator for the University of Iowa under Fran McCaffery, a job he held for just over a year.

Bowen was hired as an assistant coach by the Nuggets in December 2011. In 2013, he was hired as an assistant coach and assistant director of player development by the Sacramento Kings.

Bowen returned to the Nuggets in 2015 as an assistant following Denver’s hire of Michael Malone as the head coach, whom he worked with in Sacramento.

Bowen won his first NBA championship in 2023 when the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games.

Bowen tried to absorb as much knowledge as possible from as many different coaches as possible.

“I was an assistant for George Karl and Coach Malone. That was a tremendous opportunity to learn from those great coaches,” Bowen said. “I’ve also worked with some great assistant coaches who have gone on to become head coaches.”

Still, Bowen never felt the itch to become a head coach until recently.

“I never thought about or even wanted to be a head coach,” Bowen said. “I just wanted to learn as much about the game as I could and see how far it would take me.”

Bowen and his wife Wendy, a graduate of Burlington High School, have two sons and a daughter. With their children grown and out of the house, Bowen figured it was the right time to give head coaching another try.

“My wife and I are empty nesters now, so this was the perfect time to become a head coach again,” Bowen said. “Our home base will still be in Denver. I will be in Grand Rapids for about six months. Their season is a little bit shorter, so I still get to be around the Nuggets quite a bit.”

Bowen will be reunited with Steve Iske at Grand Rapids. Iske will serve as General Manager while also being named Vice President of Pro Personnel for the Nuggets.

The Denver native is another longtime fixture of the Nuggets organization, originally joining in 1999 as a scouting intern and working his way to scouting coordinator, video coordinator, and advanced scout before being named assistant coach (2007-2013).

Bowen is looking forward to working with Iske to help develop players for the Nuggets.

“Steve came into the league my first year as a Nugget,” Bowen said. “We have a good working relationship. I told him that if halfway through the season we aren’t winning, we can switch roles and he can be the head coach and I can be the G.M.”

Bowen said part of the allure of the job is being able to stay in close contact with the Nuggets.

“I’m in the gym working out with the guys all summer. I haven’t even been to Grand Rapids yet,” Bowen said. “It’s nice to have someone in Grand Rapids who knows the terminology so that when one of our players gets called up to Denver, the transition should be seamless. We have a cohesiveness between the Gold’s and the Nuggets’ staffs and that will help us put the best product on the court.”

The Grand Rapids Gold will open the home slate on Friday, Nov. 7.

Bowen is ready to begin the next chapter of his basketball life.

“I’m excited for this new adventure,” Bowen said. “It’s not something that I take lightly. It’s tough to get head coaching jobs, no matter what level it is. I’m very excited for this opportunity.”