Earl Jerrod "E. J." Rowland (born May 18, 1983) is an American-born Bulgarian professional basketball player for JL Bourg of the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

and the EuroCup. Standing at , he plays the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

position.

College career

Rowland began his college career with CSU Dominguez Hills. As a freshman with the Toros, he averaged 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while starting 24 of 27 games.E.J. Rowland
at nba.com Following this season, he transferred to

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems i ...

, a two-year community college in Salinas, California. In his only season with the team, he led the squad in points, assists, steals, and free-throw percentage en route to being named Coast Conference Player of the Year and earning All-State honors. Rowland finished his college career with two years of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

basketball at St. Mary's (CA). He had two successful seasons with the Gaels, leading the team in assists in both his years there. Following his senior season, he earned honorable mention All-WCC.

Professional career

Rowland began his professional career in the D-League with the Florida Flame. After seeing little action off the bench for the team, he spent the 2005–06 season with Barons LMT in Latvia. at basketpedya.com He then spent the 2006–07 season in the Australian NBL with the Sydney Kings but got released midseason. He then finished the season with the Townsville Crocodiles who eventually met Sydney in the Quarterfinals but lost 122–89. After he landing with Artland Dragons of the Basketball Bundesliga in 2007. In 2008–09, he averaged 13.6 points and 3.4 assists per game for Telekom Baskets Bonn. He helped the team to the finals of the Bundesliga for the second consecutive season. In July 2011 he signed a two-year deal with Unicaja Málaga in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. After unsuccessful season for himself and team, Unicaja decided to go another direction and loaned Rowland to Latvian champions VEF Rīga. In Latvia E.J. had a break-out year leading his team to a great season, while Rowland got multiple individual awards. After such season Rowland moved to Turkey, signing lucrative deal with Banvit. On January 7, 2015, in a EuroCup away game against Budućnost Podgorica, he was involved in an on-court incident. With two minutes of game time remaining, a hooligan ran onto the court, in order to hit Sammy Mejía of Banvit, after which Rowland punched the hooligan fan in retaliation. After the brawl, the referees ejected him from the court. He was fined by

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...

(which organizes the EuroCup) for taking part in the incident, with a 30,000

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s fine. On August 12, 2015, Rowland signed a one-year deal with the Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem. On August 23, 2016, Rowland signed with Russian club Khimki for the 2016–17 season. On July 17, 2017, Rowland signed with Turkish club Eskişehir Basket for the 2017–18 season. On February 1, 2019, he has signed with Montakit Fuenlabrada of Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. On March 1, 2021, Rowland signed with Chemidor B.C. of the Iranian Basketball Super League. On October 17, 2022, he has signed with GTK Gliwice of the Polish Basketball League (PLK).

National team career

Rowland was invited to try out for the one naturalized player spot on the senior Bulgarian national basketball team for EuroBasket 2009.US Basketball Players to Boost Bulgaria's Nationals
/ref> He beat out Andre Owens for the naturalized spot on the roster. With the national team, he led all players at EuroBasket 2009 in minutes played, while averaging 17.7 points per game.Player Profile
at eurobasket.com Despite his efforts, the Bulgarians finished 0–3 and were eliminated in the group stage.

Personal life

E.J. Rowland develops his personal project through his bran
GRRR
The GRRR brand and apparel line has come to life through E.J., a few close friends and some fellow athletes as a reflection of their inner drive for greatness. It has resonated with people across all ages, nationalities, and career paths.

The Basketball Tournament

E.J. Rowland played for Team Challenge ALS in the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

edition of The Basketball Tournament. In four games, he averaged 6.8 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game on 39 percent shooting. Team Challenge ALS made it to the West Regional Championship Game before falling to eventual tournament runner-up Eberlein Drive.

References

External links