JMU MEN'S BASKETBALL HIRES LOUIS ROWE AS ASSISTANT COACH

HARRISONBURG, Va., July 2, 2010 - James Madison men's basketball coach Matt Brady announced the signing of Louis Rowe to one of three assistant coach positions with the Dukes on Friday.

"I'm excited for Louis to be back in this full-time position," commented Brady on the hiring for his third season with the Dukes. "I'm excited for JMU. He fully demonstrated his passion for JMU in general and our program in particular. He is a guy with a bright future and has everything you're looking for in a coach. He works hard and possesses good skill knowledge. I'm excited that we have the opportunity to move him up."

Rowe offered assistance to the program for the last two years while pursuing his graduate degree from JMU. Prior to that, he worked one season as an assistant coach in 2007-08 under the previous coaching staff of Dean Keener.

"I'm very excited," stated Rowe on his appointment with the Dukes. "I'm obviously committed to this staff, the program, and the university. I'm looking forward to getting to work."

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 St. Petersburg, Fla., native, 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-league 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 professionally abroad from 1995-2004. His professional career included time in Sweden, Germany, Belgium, France, Israel and Greece. He was a member of championship teams in 1995 (Sweden) and 2000 (Belgium).

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 coached the head coach for one season at Dixie Hollis High School in St. Petersburg, Fla. while also teaching mathematics.

Rowe fills the position on Brady's staff vacated by Carlin Hartman, who left the Dukes after one season to become associate head coach at Columbia.

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