The Bourg veteran is aiming to become the oldest EuroCup champion ever.
E.J. Rowland, Bourg: 'Never thought I'd be playing this long'
Interviews
5 Mins read
E. J. Rowland is back in the BKT EuroCup after a seven-year absence, and at age 40, he could become the oldest competition champion ever if Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse goes all the way.
Rowland first played in the EuroCup almost 17 years ago, debuting with German side Artland Dragons on November 6, 2007, to score 10 points against Pau-Orthez, coincidentally the lifelong club of his current coach, Frederic Fauthoux.
"For a lot of Americans that come to Europe, we don't really understand the dynamics of EuroLeague or EuroCup, the different leagues and domestic leagues," Rowland recalled. "We were all just really young and just hungry to achieve something in our careers. So much time has passed, but I can still remember moments."
Bourg is Rowland's sixth team in the EuroCup. Between his debut and 2017, he also played for VEF Riga of Latvia, Banvit Bandirma of Turkey, Khimki Moscow Region of Russia and Hapoel Jerusalem of Israel for a total of 109 career games. He ranks sixth all-time among EuroCup scorers with 1,275 points and seventh with 387 assists.
Despite all his previous tried, this is his first EuroCup Finals and Rowland is excited to be in it with Bourg.
"I hope everybody understands the opportunity that's in front of us. It's special."
"I'm happy to be back playing at a high level. I feel good mentally. I feel good physically and it's great being a part of a good team," Rowland said. "We actually have a chance to win something, and I have said that since like the first couple of weeks that I joined the team. So, it's cool to see it come to fruition."
It is an unexpected opportunity. After playing the 2016-17 EuroCup with Khimki, Rowland went on to play in Turkey, Spain, Iran, Israel and Poland before returning to the competition with Bourg, who signed him as an injury substitute back in October and a month later extended his contract through the end of this season.
All of a sudden, Rowland is closer than ever before to the EuroCup title.
"At the beginning of your career, you just think that these opportunities are going to come all the time, right? And I have been on some really good teams that I felt had the chance to get a title. But different things happen, whether it's injuries or running into a team that's playing really well at the right time, or just teams not having the chemistry," Rowland said. "And so I noticed from the first couple of weeks I was here, I thought, 'We have talent, we have good chemistry, unselfishness, a lot of the qualities that you need. And it won't be easy, but as long as we are in the moment and take it game by game, we would have a chance.'"
Rowland's previous biggest EuroCup title shot came in 2015, when Banvit played the semifinals against a Khimki team led by Tyrese Rice, Petteri Koponen and Paul Davis. It was a two-way series and Banvit won the first leg but lost on points differential on an aggregate score of 175-172. Khimki went on to take the title.
"We lost by such a narrow margin in Khimki. It was a missed opportunity," he recalled. "So being in this moment now is just like, 'Wow, this is nice.' I hope everybody understands the opportunity that's in front of us. It's special."
"A title at this stage would be a cherry on top."
While he was away from the competition, Rowland developed his own clothing company, GRRR, with friends, a small project that is growing every year.
"We were interested in creating clothes for ourselves and our close friends, but it started to expand and obviously through me being playing internationally, it's starting to grow some legs and catch some eyes," he said. "It really just represents going after what you want in life. So the motto is 'Attack life in full pursuit of your dreams'. So whether you as a journalist or me as a basketball player, we make sacrifices to be great at what we do, whether it's spending extra time, staying up late, going above and beyond to be successful. And so I feel like that relates to everyone."
Even though he has GRRR to fall back on, joining Bourg at age 40 was not a tough decision for Rowland.
"I never thought I'd be playing this long, but I still love it. And I still have a competitive spirit. And going into the gym every day, I still like to compete. I still like being around the guys," Rowland said. "I'm lucky that I found this situation because it's just great people throughout the organization. At my age, those are things that matter most."
Despite losing the Game 1 to Paris Basketball on the road, Bourg has the chance to tie the series at home in Game 2 on Friday. If Bourg were to beat Paris twice, Rowland would become the oldest player to ever win the competition. Oliver Stevic was with 39 years, 4 months and 12 days old when he lifted the trophy with Dreamland Gran Canaria last season. Rowland turns 41 years old next month.
"Man, it would be amazing to get a title at this stage," he said. "That would just that would be a cherry on top."