E. J. Rowland

Earl Jerrod "E. J." Rowland (born May 18, 1983[1]) is an American-born Bulgarian professional basketball player for Montakit Fuenlabrada of the Liga ACB. Standing at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), he plays the point guard position.

E. J. Rowland
No. 0 – Montakit Fuenlabrada
PositionPoint guard
LeagueLiga ACB
Personal information
Born (1983-05-18) May 18, 1983
Salinas, California
NationalityAmerican / Bulgarian
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolPalma (Salinas, California)
College
NBA draft2005 / Undrafted
Playing career2005–present
Career history
2005–2006Florida Flame
2006Sydney Kings
2006–2007Townsville Crocodiles
2007Barons LMT
2007–2008Artland Dragons
2008–2009Telekom Baskets Bonn
2009–2011Vanoli Cremona
2011–2012Unicaja Málaga
2012–2013VEF Rīga
2013–2015Banvit
2015–2016Hapoel Jerusalem
2016–2017Khimki
2017–2018Eskişehir Basket
2019–presentMontakit Fuenlabrada
Career highlights and awards

College career

Rowland began his college career with CSU Dominguez Hills.[2] As a freshman with the Toros, he averaged 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while starting 24 of 27 games.[3] Following this season, he transferred to Hartnell College, a two-year community college in Salinas, California. In his only season with the team, he led the squad in points, assists, steals, and free-throw percentage en route to being named Coast Conference Player of the Year and earning All-State honors.[3]

Rowland finished his college career with two years of NCAA basketball at St. Mary's (CA). He had two successful seasons with the Gaels, leading the team in assists in both his years there.[3] Following his senior season, he earned honorable mention All-WCC.[3]

Professional career

Rowland began his professional career in the D-League with the Florida Flame. After seeing little action off the bench for the team, he spent the 2005–06 season with Barons LMT in Latvia.[4] He then spent the 2006–07 season in Australia before landing with Artland Dragons of the Basketball Bundesliga in 2007.[4] In 2008–09, he averaged 13.6 points and 3.4 assists per game for Telekom Baskets Bonn.[5] He helped the team to the finals of the Bundesliga for the second consecutive season.[6] In July 2011 he signed a two-year deal with Unicaja Málaga in Spain.[7] After unsuccessful season for himself and team, Unicaja decided to go another direction and loaned Rowland to Latvian champions VEF Rīga.

In Latvia E.J. had a break-out year leading his team to a great season, while Rowland got multiple individual awards. After such season Rowland moved to Turkey, signing lucrative deal with Banvit.

On January 7, 2015, in a EuroCup away game against Budućnost Podgorica, he was involved in an on-court incident. With two minutes of game time remaining, a hooligan ran onto the court, in order to hit Sammy Mejía of Banvit, after which Rowland punched the hooligan fan in retaliation. After the brawl, the referees ejected him from the court.[8] He was fined by Euroleague Basketball (which organizes the EuroCup) for taking part in the incident, with a 30,000 euros fine.[9]

On August 12, 2015, Rowland signed a one-year deal with the Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem.[10]

On August 23, 2016, Rowland signed with Russian club Khimki for the 2016–17 season.[11]

On July 17, 2017, Rowland signed with Turkish club Eskişehir Basket for the 2017–18 season.[12]

On February 1, 2019, he has signed with Montakit Fuenlabrada of Spanish Liga ACB. [13]

National team career

Rowland was invited to try out for the one naturalized player spot on the senior Bulgarian national basketball team for EuroBasket 2009.[14] He beat out Andre Owens for the naturalized spot on the roster. With the national team, he led all players at EuroBasket 2009 in minutes played, while averaging 17.7 points per game.[15] Despite his efforts, the Bulgarians finished 0–3 and were eliminated in the group stage.

Personal Life

E.J. Rowland develops his personal project through his brand GRRR. The GRRR brand and apparel line has come to life through E.J., a few close friends and some fellow athletes as a reflection of their inner drive for greatness. It has resonated with people across all ages, nationalities, and career paths.

The Basketball Tournament

E.J. Rowland played for Team Challenge ALS in the 2018 edition of The Basketball Tournament. In four games, he averaged 6.8 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game on 39 percent shooting. Team Challenge ALS made it to the West Regional Championship Game before falling to eventual tournament runner-up Eberlein Drive.

References
  1. "EJ Rowland". nbadleague.com. 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  2. CSUDH Athletics
  3. E.J. Rowland Archived 2009-10-19 at the Wayback Machine at nba.com
  4. E.J. Rowland Archived 2017-01-31 at the Wayback Machine at basketpedya.com
  5. Earl Rowland Archived 2009-10-15 at the Wayback Machine at doudiz.com
  6. Former Gael E.J. Rowland in Championship Game of German League
  7. UNICAJA adds Rowland at point
  8. "Igrači tukli huligana u Morači!". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  9. "ULEB odredio kazne za tuču u Morači". b92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  10. "Hapoel Jerusalem puts Rowland at point". Eurocupbasketball.com. August 12, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  11. "E. J. Rowland joins BC Khimki". .bckhimki.ru. August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  12. Eskisehir Basket inks with E.J Rowland
  13. "El Fuenlabrada ficha al veterano base E.J. Rowland: será su 14º equipo" (in Spanish). Gigantes.com. February 1, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  14. US Basketball Players to Boost Bulgaria's Nationals
  15. Player Profile Archived 2009-09-11 at the Wayback Machine at eurobasket.com
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