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

GTK Gliwice Gliwickie Towarzystwo Koszykówki Gliwice, shortly GTK Gliwice, is a professional basketball club based in Gliwice, Poland. The team currently plays in the first level Polish Basketball League. History The club was founded in 1998 and initially f ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish basketball leag ...

(PLK). Standing at , he plays the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

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 in ...

, 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 student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

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 The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

with the

Florida Flame The Florida Flame was an NBA Development League team based in Fort Myers, Florida. The Flame announced they would temporarily shut down operations during 2006–07, due to not having a home arena in which to play. The team maintained its league m ...

. After seeing little action off the bench for the team, he spent the 2005–06 season with

Barons LMT BK Barons/LDz (previously Barons/LMT) was a professional basketball club which is based in Riga, Latvia. The team played in the first division of Latvian Basketball League. History Barons kvartāls was an integral part of Latvia's recent basket ...

in Latvia.E.J. Rowland
at basketpedya.com He then spent the 2006–07 season in Australia before landing with

Artland Dragons QTSV Quakenbrück, representing its professional team as Artland Dragons, is a basketball club based in Quakenbrück, Germany. Their home arena was the Artland Arena, which has room for 3,000 spectators. From 2003 till 2015 the club played in the ...

of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

in 2007. In 2008–09, he averaged 13.6 points and 3.4 assists per game for

Telekom Baskets Bonn Telekom Baskets Bonn, also known as Baskets Bonn, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bonn, Germany. The club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, which is German basketball league system, the highest level pro basketball le ...

. 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 Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after th ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. 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 Banvit is a feed and poultry producer based in Bandırma, Turkey. Business and activities Starting as a feed producer in 1968, Banvit gradually moved into the production of broiler chickens. Today Banvit has the country's largest single broiler ...

. 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 A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

ejected him from the court. He was fined by

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball is the private company that runs and operates the top continental-wide basketball men's professional sports club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has been org ...

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

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s fine. On August 12, 2015, Rowland signed a one-year deal with the Israeli club

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

. On August 23, 2016, Rowland signed with Russian club

Khimki Khimki ( rus, Химки, p=ˈxʲimkʲɪ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, 18.25 kilometres northwest of central Moscow, and immediately beyond the Moscow city boundary. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station tha ...

for the 2016–17 season. On July 17, 2017, Rowland signed with Turkish club

Eskişehir Basket Eskişehir Basket was a professional basketball team based in the city of Eskişehir in Turkey. Their home arena was the Anadolu Üniversitesi Sport Hall with a capacity of 5,000 seats. Founded in 2006, the club played in the highest tier 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. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. On March 1, 2021, Rowland signed with Chemidor B.C. of the

Iranian Basketball Super League The Iranian Basketball Super League (IBSL) is a professional men's basketball league in Iran. It was founded in 1998. The current champions is Shahrdari Gorgan. The league follows the promotion and relegation system in which the worst two teams ...

. On October 17, 2022, he has signed with

of the

(PLK).

National team career

Rowland was invited to try out for the one naturalized player spot on the senior

Bulgarian national basketball team The Bulgaria men's national basketball team ( bg, Български национален отбор по баскетбол, Balgarski natsionalen otbor po basketbol) represents Bulgaria in international basketball. The governing body is the Bu ...

for

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

.US Basketball Players to Boost Bulgaria's Nationals
/ref> He beat out

Andre Owens Andre Owens (born October 31, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. High school and college basketball A 6'4" (1.93 m) guard, he played competitively at Perry Meridian High School where he was an Indiana All-S ...

for the naturalized spot on the roster. With the national team, he led all players at

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 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

edition of

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

. 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