The routine for aspiring high-level college basketball players in America is well known. It starts in middle school and ends with high school all-star games, camps sponsored by sneaker companies and summer league games.
Northwestern’s starting center Kyle Rowley did not take this well-beaten path.
Growing up in Trinidad, the freshman 7-footer hadn’t even played basketball until just before his freshman year in high school. The recruiting process that was so familiar to some was as foreign to him as Trinidad might be to an American-born prospect.
“It was all new to me,” Rowley said. “The whole (process of) college coaches calling you, and all the rules and stuff. It definitely took me some getting used to.”
But this unfamiliarity was not just a result of his distant birthplace. Though blessed with tremendous size, Rowley didn’t have the experience to get looks from college coaches. He was raw and undeveloped when assistant coach Tavaras Hardy first saw him play.
“I saw Kyle when he first came to this country as a sophomore from Trinidad,” Hardy said. “I looked at him and I didn’t even think he’d be able to play Division-II basketball. He just improved so much that not more than a year later he was being recruited by some of the top Division-I schools in the country – teams in the Big East, ACC and Big Ten.”
That rapid progress was the result of what the NU coaches believe is Rowley’s biggest strength: his work ethic. The first thing he worked on upon his arrival in Evanston was his conditioning. He needed to improve his ability to get up and down the court while still being able to bang down low with the physical centers in the Big Ten. Rowley calls this the most important aspect of his development as a basketball player since joining the Wildcats.
But NU’s center didn’t stop there. He’s also improved dramatically since the beginning of the season. In six of the Cats’ first 11 games, Rowley turned the ball over at least twice. However, he has yet to turn the ball over more than once in the nine games since. This improvement comes from both a better understanding of his role in the offense, and the time he has put in to develop his passing skills.
“It used to be where we’d throw it down to him and it would never come back out,” junior forward Kevin Coble said. “Now when he’s getting double-teamed or other guys are down there and he gets a rebound he’s able to kick it out and make a good pass.”
For now, Rowley’s main contributions do not show up in the box score. He provides height on the defensive end to neutralize centers the Cats could not contain in previous years. On the offensive end, Rowley has become a much better screener, helping to free NU’s perimeter players for open shots.
Though his role in the offense is small thus far, more effort and experience could bring Rowley closer to the level of play of another 7-footer who didn’t pick up a basketball until he was a teenager: Spurs center Tim Duncan, a player Rowley said he admires.
“I don’t think there’s any limit to what he can accomplish,” Coble said. “That size is hard to find. … I expect a great transformation from this year to next (year). And over the next three years there’s really no ceiling you could put on him.”
