Were it not for Alonzo Mourning, Billy Owens would have been the #1 high school recruit of 1988, a forward whose high school exploits don't get the recognition they deserved.

Owens scored 3,298 points in four years at Carlisle HS, a perfect 20-0 in state playoff games, including a 53 point game on Pittsburgh Central Catholic that capped a perfect 33-0 season. "He was LeBron James before James," wrote Carlisle-area sports writer Jake Adams in 2018. "[Owens was] a forward who could bring the ball up the court, pass with precision, shoot with some range - the 3-point line wasn't instituted until he was a senior - and dismantle teams inside on defense or offense. Owens was strong and fast and smart and dangerous whenever he touched the ball. In many ways, he was in his playing days what the NBA is becoming now: a league of 6-8 athletes who can run the point or play in the post - positionless."

"I thought [he] was going be the next Magic Johnson," said Jeff Lebo, a teammate who starred at North Carolina.

Owens turned down numerous offers nationwide to sign with Syracuse in 1988, finishing his senior season as the #2 ranked recruit nationally behind Mourning. Their paths crossed numerous times over Owens' first two seasons, with the Syracuse freshman struggling with a 1 for 9 effort in their first meeting in January 1989 and peaking two years later with a 23 point effort versus Mourning and the Hoyas at the Carrier Dome in 1990. Owens' blend of ball handling and rebounding made him a valuable resource for the Orangemen, but he was not the star in first two seasons, sharing the spotlight with Derrick Coleman and Sherman Douglas. Owens finished third in scoring in 1988-89 as the Orangemen were ranked as high as #5 nationally and advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals.

The Orangemen opened the 1989-90 season #1 in the nation and was ranked no lower than 11th anytime during the season. Owens led Syracuse in scoring and finished second in rebounds, with a season high of 36 in Syracuse's first road win ever at Georgetown, and a pair of 33 point games against Rutgers and Providence. Syracuse advanced to the Big East Tournament finals for the 6th time in the first 11 years of the conference, and fell short for a a fourth time in five years, as the Orangemen shot 50 percent from the foul line and enabled Connecticut its first title win, 78-75. Free throws also caught up with Owens in the NCAA's, where he missed the front end of a one and one in the final minute of a upset loss to Minnesota in the regional semifinal, the team shot just 8 for 20 for the game.

With the departure of Derrick Coleman for the NBA, Owens was the undisputed leader of the 1990-91 Orangemen and delivered the kind of season his reputation foretold. Owens became the first player in the Jim Boeheim era at Syracuse to average over 20 points a game, including a run of five games over a three week period with 30 or more points in each game. His rebounding skills were no less impressive, with a 36 point, 14 rebound effort versus Boston College and a 33 point, 16 rebound effort eight days later versus Pittsburgh.

A first team All-Big East selection, Owens became the first junior since Chris Mullin to win Big East Player of the Year as a junior. Despite another crash and burn for Syracuse in post season play, with a first round loss to Villanova in the Big East Tournament and a shocking first round loss to #15 seed Richmond in the NCAA's, he was a consensus All-America selection.

Owens bypassed his senior season for the NBA Draft, where he was selected as the third pick overall by the Golden State Warriors. A member of the NBA All-Rookie team in 1991-92, he averaged 11.7 points per game in a ten year career. But in an era just before the rapid rise in NBA salaries, Owens averaged just over $2.6 million a year.

Married for 21 years and the father of five, Billy Owens is now an assistant coach at Rutgers-Camden, a Division III program.