Jason Rowe

Jason Lee Rowe (born June 16, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player.

He played at Buffalo Traditional School in his native Buffalo, New York, leaving as the all-time leader in points and assists, and then signed to play college basketball for the Loyola Greyhounds in the MAAC, where he was a two-time all-conference performer.

He was recruited by Marquette and Loyola (MD); he decided to sign for Loyola in early November 1995, and chose to major in elementary education.

Coach Brian Ellerbe, who had recruited Rowe, included him in the starting lineup since the beginning of the season, and he started all 27 games.

Rowe averaged 13.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists, was the best assistman on the team, and he was the third best scorer behind junior guard Mike Powell and senior forward Anthony Smith.

Rowe was a candidate for the MAAC Rookie of the Year award, which went to Ricky Bellinger of Saint Peter's, and led the MAAC freshmen in assists, steals and 3-point field goals.

For Rowe's sophomore season Ellerbe left the team, being replaced by Dino Gaudio.

In his senior year at Traditional, Rowe won the 1996 Class C state title and was an all-state first team selection.

That year he averaged 24 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals per game, and shot 58% from the field; he also recorded a quadruple double with 36 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and 11 steals in a game against Lafayette High School.

The Racine Journal Times mentioned him as one of top 100 seniors in the nation.

He and Winn again shared Buffalo News Player of the Year honors.

Rowe was the first player in the state of New York to score more than 2,000 points and record more than 1,000 assists.

He finished his career at Buffalo Traditional with a school record 2,286 points (some other sources state 2,327), 1,098 assists and more than 500 rebounds and 500 steals.

On December 13, 1997 Rowe recorded a career-high 10 assists against Towson.

On January 4, 1998 Rowe recorded 7 steals against Saint Peter's, one of the best marks in school history.

On January 25, 1998, Rowe converted 7 three-pointers, which at the time was tied for the highest in a single game in Loyola history.

Rowe improved his scoring average to 18.1 points per game, which ranked second on the team and on the entire MAAC conference, behind teammate Mike Powell.

He also led the conference in total steals (86) and steals per game (3.1), while he ranked second in assists to Siena guard Melvin Freeny.

His 3.1 steals per game ranked 4th in the entire Division I.

His 152 total assists in '98 were among the top-5 in school history, while his 86 steals were a new school record.

At the end of the season he was named in the All-MAAC Second Team.

In his junior season, Rowe was considered one of the best players of the MAAC, and led his team in points, assists and steals per game, recording 161 total assists (among the best result in Loyola history) and established Loyola's all-time high for steals in a single season with 95.

He played 956 total minutes, for a 34.1 per game average.

His 3.4 steals per game also ranked third in the whole Division I, behind Shawnta Rogers' 3.6 and Tim Winn's 3.5.

After his senior year at Loyola he went undrafted in the 2000 NBA draft and moved to Cyprus, where he made his professional debut with APOEL.

In his 15-year career he has played in Argentina, Cyprus, France, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Poland, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine; in 2006 he was the top scorer of the LNB Pro A, the top level of French basketball, and was named the league's Foreign MVP the same year.

Rowe is currently head coach of Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School.

Jason Rowe was born in Buffalo, New York; his family enjoyed basketball: his father Jerry played in high school and was a local scout, while uncle Lester Rowe played in the NCAA Division I for the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Rowe started playing the sport at a very young age, and when he was 8 years old he was playing with older kids (aged 13 and under).

He enrolled at Buffalo Traditional School in the fifth grade, and in the 8th grade he participated in a basketball camp organized by Georgia Tech.

In his freshman year he was already considered one of Traditional's varsity team best players.

Playing under coach Joe Cardinal, Rowe averaged 23 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists per game in his sophomore season.

In his junior year, Rowe was named in the Class C first team.

He was described by The Baltimore Sun as a 5-foot-9, 155-pounds point guard with good court vision and a 36-inches vertical leap.

Rowe averaged 22 points, 12 assists and 5 steals his junior year.

He and Tim Winn were named co-Players of the Year by The Buffalo News.

The summer before his senior year, Rowe took part in the ABCD Camp, where he got injured.

He ranks among the best scorers in the history of New York state high school basketball and according to the National Federation of State High School Associations his 1,098 career assists are the 10th highest mark in U.S. high school basketball history.

In 2009 as The Buffalo News celebrated 50 years of All-Western New York (WNY) basketball selections, Rowe, who was thrice an All-WNY first team selection was a third team selection for the All-time All-WNY team along with Gary Bossert, Jonny Flynn, Aaron Curry, and Jimmy "Bug" Williams.

Rowe drew marginal interest by big Division I programs, and received generic letters by Duke and Michigan.