Southern Illinoise University Athletics
The Chris Lowery Era Begins For Men's Basketball
04/09/2004 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
April 9, 2004
CARBONDALE
By Seth Whitehead
www.SIUSalukis.com - It took Chris Lowery all of 60 seconds Friday to win over Saluki basketball fans dealing with some serious abandonment issues.
"I have no ties to any other program, and I think that's very important,"said the former Saluki after being introduced as the 12th head coach in SIU men's basketball history. "My roots are here."
Lowery paused for a huge round of applause and laughter before continuing:
"You know, my only ties are to Bruce Weber at the University of Illinois. And we hope he stays there, because we don't want him as an assistant."
Those were beautiful words for a program that has went through two coaching changes in the last 12 months. And it's a big reason athletic director Paul Kowalczyk has managed to keep a sense of humor.
"Good afternoon everybody," Kowalczyk said before introducing Lowery. "Thank you for coming. We welcome you all to SIU, the cradle of men's basketball coaches for the Big 10."
But more importantly, Kowalczyk has maintained confidence in a program that's won three-straight Missouri Valley Conference titles and went to the NCAA Tournament each of those seasons.
The hiring of Lowery - a former Saluki point guard and assistant coach - is a big reason for that.
After taking just a day to promote Matt Painter less than a year ago, Kowalczyk needed just hours to decide this time around.
"I took stock of our basketball program, and what I saw was a group of terrific, eager-to-please young men," Kowalczyk said. "I saw a team that, between our returning veterans and incoming rookies, may well end up being the most talented squad in SIU's history.
"So the question was, 'Where do we go from here? Who can continue building on this success?'"
After speaking with Lowery, Kowalczyk knew he had his man.
"He impressed me with his confidence and knowledge, and I was convinced he was the right man to now lead this program," Kowalczyk said.
Lowery's many qualifications are evident. Kowalczyk cited Lowery's integrity, work ethic, knowledge of the game, experience, recruiting record - and most importantly - his knowledge of and commitment to Saluki basketball.
"He played here and he won here," Kowalczyk said. "He's been a winner everywhere he's been. And he helped build this program."
Lowery played point guard for the Salukis from 1990-94. He helped lead the team to two-straight NCAA Tournaments in 1993 and 1994 after consecutive NIT bids in 1991 and 1992. A second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in '92, Lowery scored 1,225 points and dished out 391 assists, ranking third in school history on the career assists chart. SIU went 86-37 (.699) during his playing career.
Lowery returned to SIU in 2001 as an assistant, helping the Salukis to a 52-15 (.776) record and two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Overall, Lowery's Saluki teams have gone 138-52.
"He understands the personnel and the style of play," Kowalczyk said. "He also understands the SIU culture. And he's somebody whose passion for Southern Illinois is matched only by his passion for basketball."
The only questions were Lowery's age, 31, and lack of head coaching experience. Kowalczyk addressed these questions in his interview of Lowery. The Evansville native quickly laid those concerns to rest.
"He said, 'I'm just going to go in there and get to work,'" Kowalczyk said. "Sounds just like our team, doesn't it?"
Although Lowery admitted he was nervous moments after being introduced Friday, he was able to make everyone else in the room breath a little easier right off the bat - he said he isn't changing SIU's winning formula.
"I think that if I said I wanted to change I wouldn't be here," Lowery said. "I think it is very important to keep everything the same. This is what I know now: I've been to several other places - but this is the most successful scheme, plan and direction of a program that I've been in.
"Why change?"
Lowery's current players feel the same way and are happy to have him back in Carbondale.
"I'm just real happy," junior guard Darren Brooks said. "Everything stayed in the family, stays the same. The players know him.
"I think he'll do a great job. As long as he has the same attitude he had as an assistant and keeps us working hard, he'll be fine. We've been winning with the same system we had, and I didn't want to change everything. It takes a couple years to learn a new concept and new strategy, so I wanted to keep everything running smooth.
"They did a great job selecting him. He knows everything about our system. He played here and knows everything about the community. Everything's positive with him. It's a great move for us. Coach Lowery's going to be a great coach, I think."
"He knows us, knows everything about us - our personalities, our games, what we need to work on," junior guard Stetson Hairston said. " It's great to have him back."
"I was afraid they were gonna bring somebody from outside that has never really known anything about us and that they would do something to change us," junior forward LaMar Owen said. "But he definitely knows the program. We're all ready to get back at it."
SIU players aren't the only ones praising Lowery. Illinois senior Jerrance Howard proved to be a bit of a prophet about three weeks ago.
"There's a guy who can understand some of the things we have to go through, and he's there with his wife and kids making us a part of his family, too," Howard told the Evansville Courier. "He's great in practice and in scouting - he did the game plan for Murray State (in the NCAA Tournament) - but he also knows how to help you relax.
"We can go over to his house and play with his kids and get away from some of the pressure. He's a great assistant coach, and he'll be a great head coach."
That being said, Lowery's age could turn out to be a positive. He and Harry Gallatin are tied as the youngest head coaches in SIU history.
"I'm only 31," Lowery said. "I know that people may address that, but that does not account for the amount of time I've spent trying to get better as a coach and a player."
Though SIU's head coaching vacancy was quickly filled, many questions remained concerning the rest of the Saluki coaching staff, the possibility of current players transferring and the status of incoming recruits.
Lowery and his players gave fans the answers they were hoping for in two of these areas of concern. Lowery is working to ensure they get a positive answer on the third.
"As of right now, I'm keeping everybody," Lowery said of the coaching staff, drawing an uproarious round of applause. "That's my family also. It goes beyond the basketball. I've known Rodney Watson since 1990 and Paul Lusk since 1991. And Shane Hawkins played here and I worked here with him."
Owen was one of the players that did a lot of soul-searching after Matt Painter announced he was leaving for Purdue. But Lowery's hire convinced him to stay - and that the Saluki train would role on as scheduled.
"I had no thoughts about leaving when coach Weber left," Owen said. "But I felt if somebody new did come in (this time) that I didn't really know if my place was here or not. But definitely, having coach Lowery here, he knows where I am. This is my home now and I don't want to be anywhere else.
"I think we're all excited about it. We all felt that this is a great opportunity. We're just glad they got it done this fast."
Lowery would not get into specifics about the status of incoming recruits.
"I have talked to people we have signed," Lowery said. "That is something we are definitely working on."
Though Lowery was physically in Champaign last season, he admits his heart remained with the Salukis.
"We spent so much time here - me and Matt and coach Weber and Rodney - we spent so much time trying to get this thing where its at right now," Lowery said. "And it felt so good to be up there at U of I - supposably the pinnacle of basketball - and to look down here and see you guys ranked and we weren't.
"It made me feel really good. And that's the honest truth, because sometimes you tend to overlook smaller things. But great things are here."
But Lowery did learn a lot at Illinois.
"Professionally, I think I learned to deal with the elite athlete," Lowery said. "I think that until you go there and experience the best players in the country, you don't really understand how good those players are. And they're very fragile, because they've never been told 'no,' and they've never been told they were failing at something on the basketball court.
"It was a change for me, you had to be more of a consoler with the better players than with these guys. We could really get after these guys. It took us time; you saw us struggle in the beginning. They didn't like that, they didn't how gruff coach (Weber) was. But in the end, we transformed them and they played as hard as they possibly could. And that's the same thing these guys are going to do."
Lowery plans on "getting after" his Salukis just like old times.
"I'm going to be very demanding of my players," Lowery said. "Those that were here know that I was always on them. And it starts with those two guys right there, with Stetson and Darren. I told both of them that the butt chewing starts with them. Our philosophy starts with them. This should be an easy transition for me because they've played for me."
Another guy who's played for Lowery, junior center Josh Warren, has already been contacted about his new head coaches' famous individual workouts.
"Josh Warren is the guy we invented them for," Lowery said. "And I called him and I just left him a message, 'I'm back Josh.' And he called me back and just laughed. He told me, 'I haven't missed you.'"
Lowery will be taking over a team that went 25-5 and rose to as high as 15th in the national rankings. With many key players returning, he knows that expectations will be high in his first season. But he is ready for the challenge.
"You know, Matt did a tremendous job here," Lowery said. "And that's not to be overlooked, because I think a lot of people doubted what he could do without coach Weber's leadership. We saw what he did, and I plan to do the same thing."
"Now these guys are going to definitely be everybody's favorite No. 1 team in the Valley," Lowery said. "My expectations are to be successful. We've got great players returning. There's so much here."
