Recruiting Report: Drew Lowder (2019)
Recruitment is starting to materialize for Michigan’s 5th-ranked 2019, Drew Lowder.
The 5-foot-11 Ann Arbor Pioneer point guard picked up his first two D1 offers this summer while playing with The Family 16U, and more could be on the horizon.
“This summer was big for me because I got my first two offers, from Toledo and Northern Illinois,” said Lowder.
“I went to Northern Kentucky’s elite camp and Duquesne’s elite camp. And , really, the school that’s reaching out to me the most is Holy Cross.”
Lowder also mentioned Cleveland State, Loyola (IL), Miami of Ohio, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Oakland, and Detroit as schools which have reached out to him directly.
Other high-major programs are reaching out indirectly.
“My dad said he’s had calls from West Virginia and Michigan, and my coach says he’s been in contact with Michigan and Michigan State,” said Lodwer.
After visiting both Northern Illinois and Toledo, unofficially, earlier this month, Lowder broke down each visit.
“I went to the Toledo football game, and I really liked the guys. I walked around the school, walked around the campus, talked to Coach (Justin) Ingram, who I’ve known since I was little,” said Lowder.
“The next day, I went to Northern Illinois. They showed me around the campus a little bit, then I played with the team and a couple other recruits. That went well. I think some of the guys there are really good. Then they showed me around the campus, the head coach was cool, he showed me around the campus himself.”
At 5-foot-11, Lowder has been working on ways to improve his offense, and still be a major force, despite his smaller frame.
“I’ve been working on my shot a lot, step-backs and things like that, a lot of quickness stuff,” he said. And really just working on being able to create space and hit difficult shots over defenders. But really more than anything else, I’ve been working on trying to finish at the rim.”
On the Nike Circuit this summer with The Family EYBL, Lowder was able to improve exponentially, and the team was gelling well by summer’s end.
“I think I really just played the point guard position to the best of my ability. Playing on the EYBL is a really up-tempo type game, and you’re going against really good competition every game,” said Lowder.
“We really bonded as a team, and we played the game the right way. Everybody was sharing the ball. And we just won a lot of games, we played top-ranked teams in the country and beat them.”
Now, he’s prepped and ready for his junior season at Ann Arbor Pioneer, where his role will be to lead and to make major contributions on both sides of the ball.
“Coach is just expecting me to play the point guard position to my full potential, while at the same time being a leading scorer and a big part of our offense,” said Lowder.
“He’s mostly on me about being a leader this year, because we have a bunch of young guys.”
As for his recruitment, Lowder says the hard work will pay off, and what’s most important is he does everything he can to get to the school that’s the best fit for him.
“I just want to give it my all, and just know that I worked as hard as a I could every game. So that if the biggest school doesn’t offer me, then it wasn’t meant to be, but if they do, then that’s something I’ve been working for since I was little,” said Lowder.
“But really, I just want to go to the school that has the best fit for me. I’m not worried about going to a big school; I mean that’d be nice, but if a smaller school is where I should go, then that’s where I’m going to go.”