The Wrangler gets it Done

by: Brigham Taylor

From: Sports Journalism

It started two years ago when he was 16. It was during basketball season. He would drag himself out of bed everyday to be at the gym by 5:00 a.m. His dad would go with him. They would go to the local University, BYU-Idaho, and work on basketball. They were determined to make David Rowe the best basketball player he could be.

Rowe started playing basketball in 5th grade when he was just ten years with the club team coached by Archie Webb — the dad of Nate Webb who was on the team. They were an AAU team with players who would arguably go on to be some of the best in the state. Eight of the original 16 or 17 still play together as seniors on the Madison High School varsity team.

Rowe is known as a hard worker. He never takes a day off when lifting and always gives it his best on both the basketball court and the football field. He is known as the “Wrangler” after this last summer at Mickey D’s Basketball camp. He was playing on a court with Justin Weiszhaar, Nathan Webb, and Spencer Hathaway. He took the ball to the hole and Nathan yelled “Oh, there goes the Wrangler at work.”

“Ever since then… [the nickname] stuck,” Rowe said.

Rowe views his role as a senior leader on the team as a great responsibility. “A lot of people kind of refer to me as ‘The Protector’ on the basketball team or ‘The Caregiver’ some of them even call me ‘Mom,’” Rowe said. He said he likes to tell people what they can improve on instead of what they did wrong. “They kind of sound like the same thing but if you tell them what they can do better it helps them keep morale and work harder,” Rowe said.

Rebounding is a big part of Rowe’s game and he said it’s the biggest part of his game and that he focuses on it more than any other aspect of the game.  He especially likes the effect that rebounds have on the team “I knew that I could work hard to make my teammates work hard to  make them better,” Rowe said, “rebounds equal heart plus effort.”He said that he wants to do what’s best for the team and do whatever he could to help his team win. That includes cheering on his team. Whenever somebody does something good on the basketball floor or the football field you can see Rowe rooting for his team and clapping his hands rigorously.

His role models include Kevin Love, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, J. J. Watt and his dad — B. J. Rowe. He said that he likes the way they play —  they are not finesse players, but they are power players who never take a play (or down) off. He looks forward to this basketball season after losing in the state championship game last year. “It should be a lot fun and we should be good again… if we can keep our heads,” he said.