Austen Rowland
Austen Rowland is an American retired professional basketball player. His 15-year career spanned from 2004 to 2019 with stops in Austria, Finland, France, and Germany. In college, Rowland was an honorable mention All-American and the 2004 Patriot League Player of the Year as a senior at Lehigh. Rowland has also been an assistant coach, first at Lehigh for the 2016–17 season and then with the German professional team Hamburg Towers in 2019–20. In his post-basketball life he is a licensed real estate professional in the Bowie, Maryland area.
Playing career
College
Delaware (1999–2002)
A native of Hyattsville, Maryland, Rowland began his college career at the University of Delaware in 1999. He played three seasons for the Fightin' Blue Hens, averaging 4.1, 11.6, and 9.8 points per game, respectively. While Delaware had success during his tenure, Rowland made the decision to transfer to Lehigh after his junior year in 2001–02. He had to redshirt the 2002–03 season, and then became eligible to play his final collegiate season in 2003–04.Lehigh (2003–2004)
Rowland made an immense impact in his lone season at Lehigh. He averaged 15.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while leading the Mountain Hawks to their first-ever Patriot League regular season and conference tournament championships. He led the league in games played, field goals made and attempted, points per game, and total points. Rowland also finished in the top five in 14 other statistical categories. He was named the 2004 Patriot League tournament's Most Valuable Player after leading Lehigh to an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. They would go on to the lose the 16-seed play-in game to Florida A&M.For his outstanding personal season, Rowland was named to the All-Patriot League first team and was its player of the year, the first from Lehigh to earn that honor. He earned an Associated Press honorable mention nod as an All-American. In 2015, he was selected to be on the Patriot League's 25th Anniversary Team as one of the greatest 25 players in league history to that point.