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On Monday, we talked about some positive news that came out of Marquette Madness that may have gotten slightly overlooked in the tumult of activity. Today, we have to turn our attention to a bit of negative news.
During Madness, right before the men’s basketball scrimmage started, the team announced that redshirt senior guard Andrew Rowsey was being withheld from the action for disciplinary reasons. Rowsey will also sit out for the closed “secret” scrimmage against Northwestern as well as the exhibition game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center against Lindenwood.
Andrew Rowsey won't play in Madness scrimmage, closed scrimmage or exhibition due to disciplinary reasons. #mubb
— MarquetteMBB (@MarquetteMBB) October 7, 2017
Let’s call that what it is: That’s a suspension. It may just be keeping Rowsey off the court for exhibitions competitions, it may not affect his preparation for the season, nor the team’s ability to practice with him, but it’s absolutely a suspension.
It might be the weakest suspension in recorded history as well, given that Rowsey won’t miss any regular season action. I’m not being critical of head coach Steve Wojciechowski and his staff here, I’m pointing out that whatever Rowsey’s infraction was that caused the suspension, it had to be one of the most minor things possible. Did he forget to put his phone on silent during a team meeting one too many times? Did he take the last Fun Size Snickers out of the community candy bowl even though he knows those are assistant coach Chris Carrawell’s favorite? Did he forget to say “Bless you” after Jamal Cain sneezed? Maybe he changed the music in the weight room when it was Cam Marotta’s day to pick the tunes. You know what it could have been? Rowsey may have been insisting on wearing suspenders with his uniform, and as you all know, that’s just foolish. Get it? Suspenders? Suspension?
Anyway......
Rowsey averaged 11.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in just a shade under 21 minutes per game last season. He shot 45% on threes and 93% on free throws while starting in just nine of his 32 appearances. The presumption heading into the season was that the Virginia native would be asked to do more in 2017-18, but that’s going to require him to have the full trust and faith of the coaching staff for that to happen.
The team continues preseason practices with the scrimmage against Northwestern on October 28th and the exhibition against Lindenwood on November 4th looming on the calendar. The regular season kicks off on November 10th at the Bradley Center against Mount St. Mary’s.