Big man’s move boosts Morrilton
The day before his team’s season opener in mid-November, Morrilton Coach Keith Zachary sat in his office with his athletic director and superintendent, just chatting before the Devil Dogs’ practice.
A few minutes into the conversation, there was a knock and Zachary looked toward the door.
He wasn’t expecting a guest, yet there stood a 6-10 Henry Cowles and his mother, looking to see if there was a spot on Morrilton’s roster.
“You’re never going to turn down 6-10,” Zachary said with a laugh.
It wasn’t as if the Devil Dogs were in a dire spot. They finished the 2019-20 season with a 22-11 record and a trip to the 4A state quarterfinals after emerging. They also had a definite star — junior wing Joseph Pinion had already committed to the University of Arkansas in October after drawing interest from Baylor and Kansas among others.
But to add Cowles to the mix? It was an opportunity to possibly lift Morrilton that much higher.
“His impact on the game, just being on the floor, made us a completely different team,” Zachary said. “He has been a bright spot in the locker room, in the hallway. The kids absolutely love him and he’s a great kid — along with the fact that he’s 6-10 and can play a little basketball.”
Actually playing basketball, however, has been a challenge for Cowles at times over the last few years.
As a 6-foot seventh-grader, he dominated in Conway, falling even deeper in love with a game that he’d played since kindergarten. But following that season, Cowles was diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans, described by the Mayo Clinic as “a joint condition in which bone underneath the cartilage of a joint dies due to lack of blood flow.”
Cowles had to undergo surgery to relieve the pain in his knees, keeping him out of action the summer going into eighth grade, his entire eighth-grade season and the following summer. Cowles then tried to play again as a ninth grader at Conway, but the pain returned and he went under the knife once more.
It wasn’t until the middle of last winter, as a sophomore, that Cowles got to see the floor as a junior-varsity player for Conway.
With his parents separated and the chance to start fresh, Cowles transferred to Morrilton this fall and quickly took on a key role for the Devil Dogs.
“It was definitely a change in pace. I’m always trying to do what I can to stay on top of that,” Cowles said of his first varsity season. “I’m in love with the process of getting better.”
Not only has Cowles gotten better but so too has Morrilton.
The Devil Dogs enter regional play as the top team out of 4A-4 Conference, having lost just twice in league play by a combined total of four points. They’re 13-6 overall and have come close to knocking off several 6A and 5A contenders — the most notable was a 61-56 December loss to No. 2 Little Rock Central.
Pinion, who is averaging a team-high 17.8 points per game, deserves plenty of praise. But Morrilton’s standout has quickly developed a relationship with his fellow junior, and the tandem of Pinion and Cowles makes the Devil Dogs that much more dangerous than a year ago.
“[He’s] one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Pinion said of Cowles. “Mentally, he’s grown a lot. Coach Zach has thrown a lot at him to be able to play and he’s handled all that very well.”
The pair has also been able to spend a lot of time together away from the floor. Along with senior Brock Hendrix, they’ll make the trip to Conway twice a week to work out with their trainer after practices.
Then, they’ll usually hit up Fuji Steakhouse for a hibachi dinner before winding up at either Pinion or Cowles’ house where they play video games.
Although the big man’s gaming skills aren’t there yet — Cowles acknowledged he’s by far the worst of the group and Pinion concurred — his basketball skills were there from the jump.
“His skill level, as far as individual workouts, was ahead of his game level,” Zachary said. “It’s beginning to balance for him now. When we think the game is getting too fast for him — he’ll pick up a couple of quick fouls because of the speed of the game — we’ll pull him out.”
As the game has slowed, Cowles’ numbers have picked up. Despite playing 15-17 minutes a night, Cowles is averaging 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, and Morrilton isn’t afraid to go to him late in games.
Zachary specifically pointed to the Devil Dogs’ power set, where they’ll overload one side of the floor with three shooters and then isolate Cowles on the low block for easy layups and dunks.
But the Morrilton coach believes Cowles can become a “dominant force” with the work he expects the big man to put in this spring and summer.
Cowles said he’s going to stretch his range beyond the three-point line in the offseason — he and Zacha- ry agreed to focus on 15 feet and in this season — and he’ll spend plenty of time in the weight room to build on his 210-pound frame.
Both of those developments should make Cowles more attractive to college coaches — he’s already drawn interest from Arkansas, Ole Miss and TCU as well as smaller Division I and Division II programs.
“He’s got everything he needs,” Zachary said. “It’s about creating, in him, a toolbag that he can use and he can just pull out what he needs and understand when he needs it.”
When Cowles walked through that door three months ago, he didn’t know what he’d find on the other side.
But he knew what was in him and is grateful for the opportunity he’s found as a Devil Dog.
“This whole move to Morrilton was just flattering, Cowles said. “This season has definitely shown to me — and to other people — that all this work that I’ve put in…is the result. Basketball is my thing.”