Louis Rowe named new men’s basketball coach at JMU

JMU announced the hiring of Bowling Green assistant Louis Rowe to head the men’s basketball program.

Rowe is a James Madison University alum and a former assistant coach in the men’s basketball program, having served on the staffs of Dean Keener and Matt Brady from 2007-2012.

“As we worked through the search process and spoke with a distinguished pool of coaches, it became clear that Louis was the best fit to lead our student-athletes at James Madison,” JMU athletics director Jeff Bourne said. “Louis has been connected to success at JMU both as a student-athlete and as a coach. Following a long, successful professional career overseas, he started as a college assistant at JMU and went on to further develop his coaching resume with progressive opportunities.”

Rowe has also served as an assistant coach at Rider, FIU and Bowling Green.

After transferring from the University of Florida, Rowe played at JMU under legendary coach Lefty Driesell, and was a Second Team All-CAA selection in 1993-94 when he averaged 14.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and was a First Team All-CAA choice in 1994-95 when he averaged 21.7 points and 5.7 rebounds.

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-of-783), was a 73.5 percent career shooter from the foul line (191-of-260) and connected on 46 career 3-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).

“I’m honored to be named the next head men’s basketball coach at James Madison University,” Rowe said. “I would like to thank President Alger, Mr. Charlie King and Mr. Jeff Bourne for putting their faith in me to lead this program. I believe in discipline and hard work on and off the court. We’re going to recruit some young men that will make it a pleasure to come watch JMU men’s basketball.”