Player Profile: Anthony Cowan Jr.
Anthony Cowan Jr. has started off his sophomore year as the Terps starting point guard once again. Unlike his freshman year where he could rely on Melo Trimble, Cowan Jr. is the lone true point guard for Mark Turgeon’s team. He has been outstanding throughout the first three games of the season.
The 6’0 guard is coming off his first career double double, career highs in points (25) and rebounds (10). Cowan Jr. also added in a solid 5 assists, making him the first Terrapin to finish with 25/10/5 in a game since College Park legend Greivis Vasquez in 2009.
Cowan Jr. has scored in double digits in all three ball games, and has led the Terps in scoring in each of those games. His rebounding has improved tremendously, even being the smallest player on the floor. With Justin Jackson struggling to score consistently early on, Cowan Jr. and Kevin Huerter have taken over the scoring load for the Terrapins.
Cowan Jr. was mainly thought of as a lockdown defender with good court vision and speed as a freshman. This season however, he has been the leader on the court and has improved in all aspects of his game. Last season, Cowan Jr. could get to the bucket with his speed easily. After getting there though, he would throw up a circus shot, turn it over trying to make a pass, or get rejected. That has not been an issue for him this year and even though it is early, you can already tell that this Ant is here to stay. The combination of a healthy Michal Cekovsky and high energy Bruno Fernando has helped the young guard out as well. Cowan Jr. has found the bigs when they get open, which he really didn’t have last season due to the rim protector Damonte Dodd as the starting center. Not to take anything away from Dodd, but he was not an offensive problem for other teams. Cowan Jr. has also done a great job setting up Terrapin wings to take their shots. Dion Wiley, Huerter, Jared Nickens, and Darryl Morsell have all had good starts and the credit is due to Cowan Jr.
With Trimble gone, everyone was uncertain of how Maryland’s offense would be ran, if there would be any offense at all. Even though Melo is gone as well, some things have rubbed off on Cowan Jr. which has made him a much better player in his sophomore season. Mark Turgeon has had a solid point guard in his coaching career at Maryland. Although the season is still young, it looks like Anthony Cowan Jr. is going to be one of the best Turgeon has had in his tenure at Maryland’s helm.
