Louis Rowe joined Kevin Baggett's coaching staff on June 18, 2012 and comes to Rider for the 2012-13 season from James Madison University.
"I'm excited to have Coach Rowe join our staff," said Baggett upon Rowe's hiring. "Louis is a guy with great character and he possesses the will and desire to win. His knowledge of the game and experience are just two of his many resourceful credentials. He's already had proven success in his collegiate and professional careers both on and off the court and I am looking forward to working with him."
Rowe's duties include off-campus recruiting, post-player development, game scouting, and practice and game coaching.
"I'm excited to be part of the staff at Rider University," said Rowe of joining the Broncs. "I'm looking forward to working with Coach Baggett, the staff, administration and the players as well as everyone within the Rider community."
Prior to coming to Rider, Rowe served his second stint with JMU during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. In those two years, Rowe helped the Dukes to 33 wins and worked closely with JMU forward Denzel Bowles who set a season rebounds (290) record for the Dukes and became the program's first Mid-Major All-American before beginning a professional career in Lithuania in late summer, 2011.
Rowe also offered assistance to the Dukes' program for the two years prior to his rehire while pursuing his graduate degree from JMU. He also spent one season as an assistant coach in 2007-08 under then JMU head coach Dean Keener.
Rowe played at JMU from 1993-95 and was a member of the Dukes' 1994 Colonial Athletic Association championship team. He earned All-CAA honors as a team captain in 1994-95 when he averaged 21.7 points per game, a figure that still ranks as JMU's fifth-best varsity season scoring mark.
A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., Rowe played for two seasons at the University of Florida before transferring to JMU and sitting out the 1992-93 season under NCAA transfer rules. Under then-JMU coach "Lefty" Driesell, he started each of the Dukes' games during their 20-10 season in 1993-94 and their 16-13 campaign in 1994-95. He was a Second Team All-CAA selection in 1993-94 when he averaged 14.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and a First Team All-CAA choice in 1994-95 when he averaged 21.7 points and 5.7 rebounds.
JMU won the 1993-94 CAA Tournament before falling 64-62 to eventual Final Four participant Florida in the first round of NCAA play. The Dukes were second in the 1994-95 CAA Tournament.
Rowe finished his two JMU seasons with 1,055 points (17.9 per game), 315 rebounds (5.3 per game), 177 assists (3.0 per game), 48 steals (0.8 per game) and 80 blocked shots (1.4 per game). He ranks fourth on JMU's career scoring average list and eighth on its career blocked shots list. He was a 52.2 percent career shooter from the field (409-783) and a 73.5 percent career shooter from the foul line (191-260), and he had 46 career three-point field goals.
Following his two seasons at JMU, Rowe played abroad from 1995-2004 and his professional career included time in Sweden, Germany, Belgium, France, Israel and Greece. He was a member of championship teams in Sweden (1995-96) and Belgium (1999-2000).
After his professional career, Rowe was an assistant basketball coach at Osceola (Fla.) High School in 2005-06 and completed his JMU degree in business administration during the summer of 2006. He was the head coach for one season at Dixie Hollis High School in St. Petersburg, Fla. while also teaching mathematics.
During his two seasons playing collegiately at Florida as a freshman and sophomore, Rowe appeared in 52 games with six starts. He scored 177 total points in 579 minutes to go along with 87 rebounds, 42 assists, 16 blocks and 27 steals.
Rowe resides in Langhorne, PA.
