Ashburton basketballer Josh Lowe is ready to jet back to America for his second season of college basketball. Photo Jaime Pitt-MacKayAfter a debut season where he was not even expected to get any game time, basketballer Josh Lowe is packing his bags for his second season of college basketball in the United States.

The 6’8” big man is entering his sophmore year at Lee University in Tennessee, and can not wait to get back into action.

“I did a lot better than I expected. I wasn’t actually going to play last year, I was just going to red shirt and it wasn’t going to count as one of my playing years, but they ended up needing me to play and I played quite a bit,” he said.

Given his height, he has found his home at centre, playing a similar game to what he was playing in New Zealand, just at a faster pace.

“It is not too different, but the games are a lot quicker and everyone is really athletic over there,” he said.

“There has been a learning period to begin with, getting used to the speed and getting used to playing with new people.

“Once I started playing more and settled in it was pretty good.”

Lowe played 23 games in his debut season, averaging 8.5 minutes, 2.6 points per game, at a shooting percentage of 59.6 per cent and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Lowe said the game against Montevallo was the highlight of his season. He scored 12 points, scoring six of his seven shots, and grabbing seven rebounds in 19 minutes on the court.

Once back in America, he will not have much time for rest, heading straight back into pre-season build-up, ahead of a tour to the Dominican Republic.

“Part of the degree is doing a cross-cultural experience, but I am exempt from that. But as part of that they take the team on a trip to play basketball and we are going to the Dominican Republic,” he said.

“I am looking forward to seeing how things go and hopefully I can continue to try and improve.”

Lowe said his long-term goal of completing his degree and playing basketball has not changed.

When it comes to lifestyle in Tennessee, Lowe said it is not all cowboy hats and country music, and that he lives a fairly similar lifestyle to when he was in New Zealand.

“I go to school for four hours and then go to basketball practice, I then go home and either do homework or hang out with my team-mates,” he said.

While a one-hour road trip to Christchurch to play basketball was common in New Zealand, Lowe said the travel can be a bit more gruelling in the States.

“If we have two road games in a row we will leave and play Wednesday night, travel Thursday to our next game and then play on the Saturday and travel back straight away and arrive home at about 2am,” he said.

“The closest team we play is about three hours’ travel away and some of the trips are six or seven hours away.”

Lowe has been back in New Zealand for around a month but has not let his game slip, making regular appearances for Team Donkey in the Mid Canterbury A grade competition.

“It is fun to come back and play, especially as there is no pressure to be playing for your position. You just come back to play for fun,” he said.

Not quite at the traditional height of an NBA centre who can stand anywhere between 6’10 and 7 foot, Lowe said a slight position shift to power forward might be where he plays in the future, unless he continues to grow, which he said he would prefer not to.

“I will probably shift to four (power forward) eventually and the coaches talked about me playing there last season and it might happen this season as we have a bit more depth,” he said.

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 8 June 2019