Former coach expects big reaction from ‘underdog’ Kyle Lowry Globe_Sports
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
This playoff series has Wright torn. He’s a lifelong 76ers fan, having lived his whole life in Philadelphia and coached the Villanova Wildcats just 30 minutes down the road since 2001.But the two-time NCAA championship-winning coach is also fiercely loyal to Lowry, whom he’d first noticed in Philly as a small but tough ninth grader. Lowry put his stamp on Wright’s Villanova program and became a key figure in the fabric of the city’s basketball scene.
Philly is where the Raps all-star point guard met his wife in high school, owns a huge home and does his much of his summer training. In the city, he does charitable work, has his own Amateur Athletic Union basketball program called K-Low Elite and his name on the Villanova locker rooms after his US$1-million donation last year. In 2018, the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association honoured Lowry at its annual banquet with the Native Son Award.
Once he chose Villanova, Wright knew he’d landed a leader right away, by the way Lowry took control on the court, even with older players. But the freshman was immature at first – late for meetings and not serious about getting to class. Wright stressed Lowry wasn’t a kid who got into trouble, but he was just generally defiant and had to do things his own way.“Honestly, his freshman year, he was a real handful. His challenges were maturity off the court,” Wright said.
“We show video of that play by Kyle to our players to this day about being a complete basketball player,” said Nardi, who today is an assistant coach at Villanova. “Kyle could attack the rim and finish at the rim. For his size, he could absorb contact, play through contact, he was very intelligent and he was good at reading what would be the right play at the right time.”
During Lowry’s two seasons there, Villanova played to records of 24-8 and 28-5 and made appearances in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 and NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight from 2004-06, before Lowry was selected in the first round of the NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.
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