Trey Lowe always knew he’d play again.
It was just a matter of patience.
After sustaining upper-body injuries in a single-car accident on Feb. 28, 2016, Lowe missed the rest of the 2015-16 season and took a medical redshirt for 2016-17. The redshirt-sophomore guard entered the 2017-18 preseason at 165 pounds, and he has added about five or 10 pounds to get near his freshman year weight, he said.
Lowe lifts weights, attends physical therapy sessions and runs to try to reach his target weight of about 180-185 pounds and further his effort to return to the court. He is satisfied with his progress.
“It’s a lot more smiles on my face, a lot more [of] me being happy,” Lowe said. “I’m more talkative around other people so I’m just grateful for everything that’s happened to me, although it’s been a bad situation. But the situation is starting to turn itself, and it’s coming to a better place.”
Coach Fran Dunphy said Lowe isn’t ready to play yet. Lowe is still staying patient. If he feels he is ready to return to the lineup midway through the year, he’ll try to play. If not, he’ll wait until the 2018-19 season, he said.
During his freshman season, Lowe played 28 games and made five starts. He scored 21 points against eventual Division I champion Villanova on Feb. 17, 2016, just 11 days before the car accident.
Lowe played mainly as a two-guard and operated from the wing during his freshman season. After a conversation with the coaching staff, he is learning how to run the point.
Lowe’s favorite player growing up was 2016-17 NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant — a prolific scorer who played 93 percent of his minutes at the shooting guard spot during his rookie season with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007-08.
In order to learn more about the point guard position, Lowe has started watching highlights of Penny Hardaway — who averaged 19.5 points and seven assists while playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal from 1993-96 and made four all-star appearances in his career. He also watched how his teammates played off-ball and when they had the ball during games last season.
Lowe said he wanted to find a different way to help the team because of all of its shooters. Temple had the third-highest 3-point percentage in the American Athletic Conference last year and made the most 3-pointers per game in The American.
Sophomore guard Alani Moore II led the team with a 41.4 3-point percentage last season, and senior forward Obi Enechionyia’s 38.5 percent rate from 3-point range ranked ninth in The American.
Redshirt-senior guard Josh Brown is returning to the court after missing the first six and final 21 games of the 2016-17 season with soreness from an Achilles tendon injury in May 2016. The Owls’ guard depth will allow different players to bring the ball up the court and give Moore II a chance to spot up from 3-point range, Brown said.
Lowe could be another ball handler when he returns. Dunphy said he displayed a point guard’s mentality during his freshman season when he’d receive a pass on the wing and make a play.
“I think that’s going to be a difficult task for him right now,” Dunphy said. “Later on in his career, hopefully he can make that transition. …He’s hanging in there and as we talked about, he’s not ready to play yet. But each day he’s making a little bit more progress.”
“I know everything doesn’t happen right away and everything happens for a reason,” Lowe said. “So I’ve just been taking it that way and just doing what I [can].”
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