Rowsey ready for TBT action
Andrew Rowsey looked right at home at the Al McGuire Center on Tuesday, bombing three-pointers on Marquette’s practice court.
The 25-year-old sharpshooter was back on MU’s campus getting ready to wear a Golden Eagles uniform once again, although this time as a firsttime player for the school’s alumni team in The Basketball Tournament.
The Golden Eagles will open the 64team, $2 million, winner-take-all, single-elimination TBT on Friday against the Fort Hood Wounded Warriors at Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
“It’s always good to be back,” Rowsey said. “It’s always good to represent Marquette and it’s always good to play basketball and have fun.”
It really didn’t take much convincing for Rowsey to join the TBT team after playing his first professional season in Hungary.
“It was kind of a mutual thing,” he said. “I asked (MU deputy athletic director) Mike Broeker what were the plans for that. He was like, ‘Join the team.’ I said ‘OK.’ That was kind of how it went.”
The 5-foot-11 guard who scored 1,087 points in his two seasons at MU becomes a natural replacement for Travis Diener, who helped the MU team advance to the TBT semifinals last year. Diener is coming off a long season in Italy and opted not to play in the TBT.
“We need to get younger each year,” said Joe Chapman, the former MU player who will serve as the TBT coach for the second straight season. “We’re starting to get older, and we got to bring in a couple younger guys to keep it going.”
Rowsey will be joined on the roster by several former MU players, including Jerel McNeal, Dwight Buycks, Jamil Wilson, Maurice Acker, Jake Thomas, Lawrence Blackledge and Derrick Wilson. Other spots will be filled by players from other schools, including Milwaukee natives Elgin Cook (Oregon) and Cinmeon Bowers (Auburn).
“He’s another sniper, for sure,” McNeal said of Rowsey. “Drew will help us a out. All us guys are die-hard Marquette guys, so even though I may not have played with him, I feel like I know the kid already.”
Rowsey’s swagger, which made him beloved by MU fans and often drew the ire of opposing fans, is still very much intact. He laughed when asked if his quick-trigger and deep range fit in perfectly with the breakneck pace of TBT games.
“I feel like my game can thrive in any environment,” Rowsey said. “It’s what I like to do. It’s what we like to do. I feel like our team can blend well and make a run at this.”
Rowsey had a successful first professional season in Hungary with Szolnoki Olaj, which won the title in that country’s top hoops league.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I enjoyed traveling the world while doing what I love, playing basketball.”
Although he liked the availability of cheap pizza in Hungary, he will be looking to play somewhere else next season.
“Hopefully by the end of TBT, I’ll have that wrapped up,” Rowsey said of his plans for next season.