Rebels tab Lowe for basketball

5/20/2004

After spending 22 seasons next to the head boys basketball coach at Bowsher, Keith Lowe now is the head coach of the Rebels.

Lowe, 51, has accepted the post at his alma mater, replacing Mark Malinowski, who resigned in March after five seasons and a 31-67 record.

Lowe spent 19 seasons as a Bowsher basketball assistant, and was the Rebels head baseball coach for 15 seasons (261-139 record) after six years as a Bowsher assistant in that sport.

Five times Lowe s Bowsher baseball teams reached district tournament play, and his 1991 team lost 4-3 to St. John s in the CL title game.

A 1971 graduate of Bowsher, Lowe has taught English at the school for 28 years, and has served as assistant athletic director for the last 19 years. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Toledo in 1976 and his masters from UT in 1985.

“I ve always been a Rebel,” Lowe said. “I went to school here, my kids went to school here and I live in the community. I had a few chances to coach basketball at other schools in the past, and that [ties to Bowsher] factored into my decision.”

Lowe has pinpointed something he sees as an ongoing negative trend with Bowsher basketball.

“We get some good players,” he said, “but over the years we ve never had a lot of depth. So I m going to try real hard to build that depth in the program.”

Bowsher loses five players from its 2003-04 team, but returns six letter winners, including junior starters Anthony Pettaway, a 6-6 post player, and Craig Weaks, a 6-4 forward.

Last year s squad closed with 17 straight losses after winning its first three games. Malinowski s 2003-03 team went 7-12 overall and 5-4 in CL play, narrowly missing the league playoffs.

Lowe said he hasn t decided on a court style just yet, but does have a basic philosophy on how he wants his teams to play.

“I ll have to wait and see what kind of players we have first,” Lowe said, “but I prefer a more defensive-oriented style. We ll run patterns and change defenses, and try to make teams respond to what we do.”

Contact Steve Junga at: sjunga@theblade.com or 419-724-6461.