July 27, 2005
The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears each week beginning in the fall and continues through the basketball regular season. In April through August, there are monthly entries. In the July edition we visit with guard Kyle Lowry.
As a student of both his game and people in general, Kyle Lowry is used to paying attention. It's a trait that has served him well.
"One of the most amazing things about Kyle," says Villanova head coach Jay Wright, "is how prepared he was when he came back from his knee injury. Here's a kid who had never played a minute of college basketball and yet he had our plays down cold. Once he began practicing with us, we never had to slow things down to allow him to catch up."
In late August of 2004, Lowry felt his left knee move awkwardly in a pickup basketball game. Soon thereafter, he discovered, much to his surprise, that he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee. Given the time frame, it seemed apparent that the graduate of Cardinal Dougherty High School's freshman season had ended before the first official day of practice.
"We all thought," Lowry says, "that I was going to have to redshirt."
After undergoing surgery on Sept. 18, Lowry began the often painfully laborious process of rehabilitation. Typically, such injuries take 4-6 months to heal and often they linger for up to a year. Against that backdrop, the Philadelphia native could only watch from the sidelines when practice officially began in the middle of October.
Yet Lowry was not merely counting the number of light bulbs in the Pavilion scoreboard each afternoon last fall. Instead, he made mental notes of what he saw unfold each day as his teammates prepared for the 2004-05 campaign.
"On each play I would focus on one player and follow them through the play," he says. "One time down the court, I would keep my eyes on everything Mike (Nardi) did. The next time I would watch Randy and then after that ARay (Allan Ray). I would watch the big guys too. And then I would start over again.
"I was determined that when I got back into practice, the coaches wouldn't have to slow things down for me. I wanted my teammates to know that I was ready to help in any way I could.
"Fortunately, things just clicked for me."
Most Villanova fans know the rest of the story. Lowry returned to the Villanova lineup on Dec. 31 and became a vital spark off the bench as the Wildcats roared to a 24-8 record and an appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The 6-0 guard did some of his best work when the lights shined brightest, contributing 33 points on 14-of-21 shooting in VU's win over Florida and loss to North Carolina in March.
"Kyle," says Wright, "is like a stick of dynamite for our team when he steps on the floor."
In 24 games, Lowry averaged 7.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per outing.
"As I look back at it," he says now, "it was great that we got to play in the NCAA Tournament and go to the Sweet 16. But mostly I'm just happy that I was able to play at all. Originally, it looked like I would miss the season and that was tough to take."
One reason Lowry didn't is that he was as diligent in his rehabilitation efforts as he was in observing his teammates at practice. Each day he dutifully reported to the Training Room to work with head athletic trainer Jeff Pierce and assistant strength and conditioning coach Mark Crutchfield. Each focused on a different part of the rehabilitation process and the work was seldom pretty.
"My original goal was to just get back on to the practice court by January," Lowry states. "I wasn't even thinking of playing. But thanks to Jeff, `Crutch' and Dr. (Rob) Good, I was ready to go sooner."
It is not unusual in such circumstances for an athlete returning after such a difficult injury to exhibit some hesitation. Lowry, though, played with the same fearlessness that had been his trademark throughout his career.
"Once I was out there I only thought about playing," he explains. "I just wanted to play as hard as I could."
Lowry's hardnosed defense and willingness to attack the basket on offense gave the Wildcats a new dimension. Without Lowry, Wright was forced to scale back his three guard offense. With him, new avenues opened. On occasion in the regular season, Wright would use Foye, Lowry, Nardi and Ray together, with none standing taller than 6-3.
In late February, Lowry got a chance to do even more. Less than 24 hours after a pulsating win over No. 17 Pittsburgh at the Pavilion, Nardi suffered a sprained ankle in a Pavilion practice session. The onus fell to Lowry, who would start in his place against No. 3 ranked Boston College two nights later at the Pavilion before a national television audience.
"Coach (Wright) told me just to play my game," Lowry recalls.
He did that and more. In 39 minutes, Lowry never buckled against the Eagles, scoring 11 points and grabbing five rebounds as the `Cats upended Boston College 76-70.
"That was a great night," he says. "I knew my teammates were there to help me and that I didn't need to try to do too much."
That audition would prove invaluable later. When Curtis Sumpter suffered a season-ending knee injury against Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Nashville, Lowry was one of those who picked up the slack. He connected on 7-of-11 shots from the floor for 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in 31 minutes of a 76-65 win.
Later that week, Lowry was back in the starting lineup with the three other guards against eventual NCAA champion North Carolina. He was nothing short of sensational in 29 minutes of action, contributing 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting while adding seven rebounds and three assists in VU's 67-66 loss to the Tar Heels.
Yet the young guard doesn't fixate on that final moment.
"It was a very disappointing night," he says, "but you can't dwell on it. That happened on March 25, 2005. It's behind us. All we can do now is look forward to the new season."
Towards that end, Lowry has spent the summer gearing up for it. He's been in the weight room and played ample amounts of pickup and summer league ball. The ever observant student knows well that opposing defenses directed their efforts at cutting off his drives last season. Much of his individual work is now spent on enhancing his perimeter and pull-up game. And the effort on defense continues to be a constant.
Lowry also knows his team will have a target drawn on its back that wasn't there a year ago. Yet he is convinced that his teammates won't let that weigh on their psyche.
"People are so excited and we're happy to have our fans," he says. "It's great to know we have that support. But we can't get caught up in what people are saying could happen - we have to earn what we get.
"One of the things that helps us is that we all get along really well. We keep things inside our family and rely on one another. We have great leaders who helped me as a young player."
It might be tempting for an astute observer like Lowry to take credit for having seen that bond prior to enrolling at Villanova. But he does not.
"I learned about how much this team cares about each other after I got here," he says. "That's not something you can really see from the outside. You need to spend 18 of the 24 hours a day living together to get a feel for that. You see all the little things that let you know this group is tight.
"When I came in, I knew that Randy, Al, Curt and Jason were close. But it's everyone - Mike, Will, Ross, Baker, Chris, all of us. We're all close and you can't even say what that means to a young player like me. I have friends at other schools and I know it's not always like that. Our superstars don't act like superstars."
On a scorching Tuesday morning recently, Lowry was passing through the Jake Nevin Field House when he saw a scene he could appreciate better than most. Pierce was putting Sumpter and Fraser through their rehabilitative paces. The two seniors took turns running in a harness with Pierce offering resistance at the opposite end. After shouting encouragement to both of his friends, Lowry headed out the door with a smile on his face.
No need to dwell on those memories either...
Villanova will host its annual "Summer Jam" on Monday, August 1 at the Pavilion. Wildcat legends and current student-athletes will be on hand at the basketball carnival that gets underway at 4:00 p.m. in the Pavilion parking lot. There will be games, prizes and a host of activities for the family.
At 7:00 p.m., the annual Alumni Games take place inside the Pavilion. A host of former Wildcats are expected to be in attendance for the festivities, including Paul Arizin, who coached one of the teams last year. Members of the 1985 NCAA championship team will be on hand along with Wildcats from all eras.
