Jan. 28, 2005
The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears each week beginning in the fall and continues through the basketball season. This week our visit is with freshman guard Kyle Lowry.
It was one moment out of hundreds that occur in the 40 minutes of a high-level college basketball game. And, yes, Villanova freshman guard Kyle Lowry would very much like to have it back.
Late in a first half in which he had played exceptionally well against No. 2 ranked Kansas, Lowry found himself playing defense against Keith Langford. In the midst of that, Lowry reacted to some contact by throwing a punch in the direction of the Jayhawk.
After officials had consulted video replays at the scorer's table, Lowry was ejected with 52 seconds left in the first half. He spent the rest of that epic Villanova afternoon in the Wildcats locker room. Worse, he soon realized that any ejection for fighting carries with it an automatic one-game suspension. So it was that Lowry donned shirt and tie when Villanova hosted Notre Dame at the Wachovia Center on Jan. 26.
What's more, NCAA rules dictate that a second ejection for fighting carries with it an automatic season-long suspension. So each time Lowry takes the court for the rest of the 2004-05 season he is aware that any subsequent misstep of that kind could cost him and his teammates dearly.
"Kyle is a young guy who made a mistake," states Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "It's something we spoke about. I know Kyle is a young man of character who will learn from this."
"I lost my cool," says the freshman from Philadelphia's Cardinal Dougherty High School. "I threw a punch. It was a mistake and I'm sorry it happened. It won't happen again."
Lowry is also unfazed by the prospect of completing the balance of the campaign with the possible threat of a season-ending suspension in the background.
"I'm not worried about it," he states. "It was a spur of the moment thing. I've definitely learned from it.
"Coach (Wright) and I talked about it. He just told me that I have to use better judgment and reminded me that everything is magnified at this level. I know that, but this has been a great lesson for me about what can happen if you aren't mindful of that."
The silver lining in Lowry's suspension is that the Wildcats persevered in his absence, picking up important victories over Kansas (83-62) and Notre Dame (65-60).
"It's great that we won those games," he says. "Now I can get back to playing basketball and helping my teammates."
Nearly one month has passed since Lowry returned to the lineup after making a remarkable recovery from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in September. In that span Lowry has displayed the skills that made him one of the East's most coveted prospects last season and become an integral component in the Villanova attack.
The irony of the Kansas game is that Lowry was enjoying his best half as a collegian at the time of the incident. He had given the Wildcats a spark off of the bench, scoring seven points in 11 first half minutes.
In seven games thus far, Lowry has averaged 5.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Yet his impact goes far beyond those numbers.
As he looked ahead to the 2004-05 campaign last summer, Wright and his coaching staff began contemplating new wrinkles to take advantage of the quickness of Allan Ray, Mike Nardi, Randy Foye and Lowry. The head coach flew south to attend a clinic in Florida, seeking to absorb a few nuances as he plotted strategy for the coming season. When he received a call from assistant coach Brett Gunning to inform him of Lowry's injury while there, those plans were scrapped.
"I remember thinking, `There goes that idea,'" he says.
For the rest of the fall, Wright's staff adjusted to what it believed would be life with only three scholarship guards. The three guard system that the Wildcats leaned on heavily in 2003-04 would have to be used less frequently without Lowry. Out of necessity, VU would play the more traditional two guards, two forwards and a center set with the three guard look used more sparingly.
Then in late December, Lowry returned to practice. To the astonishment of nearly everyone, he appeared to have suffered no ill effects from the surgery. His quickness and lateral movement were intact. Suddenly, the notion that Lowry would spend the season as a redshirt gave way to the reality that he could play. After Wright consulted with Lowry's family, he was cleared and made his college debut against Penn at the Pavilion on New Year's Eve.
Since then, Lowry has emerged as an integral part of the rotation. He spells Nardi at the point and can play off the ball too. His ability to rebound in traffic is important in a lineup that doesn't always have great height on the floor. In critical moments against No. 8 Boston College earlier this month, Wright used all four guards together with forward Will Sheridan (Curtis Sumpter was in foul trouble). Lowry sometimes found himself in the post, guarding Craig Smith.
"We have some of the toughest guards around," Lowry states. "All of us can rebound. If you have toughness and heart, you can rebound."
Now Lowry is eager to rebound from last week's incident. Following the win over Notre Dame he could be found in the hallway adjoining the Villanova locker room with his 3-year old nephew Marcus in tow.
"He's my favorite person in the world," Lowry states. "It always brightens my day when I see him."
As Lowry turned the corner, his nephew clutched his hand tightly. Off they went into the cold winter night, eager to move forward with the lessons learned from a couple of games in South Philadelphia.
