Fast Breaks with Chris Stowell

CHRIS STOWELL

Chris Stowell
Stratton, N.H. 

My hometown is Stratton, New Hampshire. Stratton is a very small town with not much to do. It is very different from Miami.

My family is funny. Both my mom and dad are really funny and so is my older brother. It’s always great to see them because it always involves a lot of laughter.

I started playing basketball in kindergarten, I believe. That is the first time I can remember playing organized basketball.

My high school I would say was a lot of fun. I went to two different high schools, but Exeter was the one I spent the most time at. It was a smaller school and my classmates and I just had a lot of fun.

When I was younger I wanted to be a professional golfer. We had a “What you want to be day” at school and I remember coming in with a visor and a golf club. I don’t know why I wanted to do that, but it was the dream.

The hardest thing about being away from home is not being able to see my family. I love being around my family, they have taken good care of me. Spending time with them is so much fun, and it’s hard not being able to see them.

When I played basketball growing up I pretended to be a lot of different players. But the main one would probably be LeBron James. I remember playing pickup in my driveway and LeBron being the one I would always try to impersonate.

Playing basketball has given me a lot of good memories, especially being here at the tournament this season as well as last year. It is so much fun being here with the guys and creating lifelong memories.

I was first introduced to Coach L over the phone. I was nervous, because I had never spoken to him before. I knew he was this big star, here at The U. The first time I met him was actually during my first trip to campus, when I was with my parents.

I am a Miami Hurricane because the University of Miami is a great place to be. It’s a great school and we have a great basketball team. I am in the business school, which is awesome, and a lot of great people convinced me to go here.

The U is becoming a great basketball affiliation. It used to always be about football at the U, but we are starting to make it about basketball at the U.

The city of Coral Gables is historical. My girlfriend is really into the history, so she has taken me to a lot of the historical places in Coral Gables. There is so much history here, which is really cool to see. One thing that we did, involved walking through the different villages in Coral Gables. There is a Chinese village, as well as these Old Dutch villages where they have houses that represent different parts of the world.

Playing for Coach L at Miami, I’ve learned a lot. He is just a wealth of basketball knowledge. All of the experiences he’s had, that he has been sharing with us. I can’t pick one thing in particular, because there are so many things he’s taught us and not just about basketball, but about life as well.

I hope my legacy involves being a good person, a hard-worker and just doing what I am supposed to do.

To be a Miami Hurricane means a lot. We carry a big reputation here, especially with the success of the program over the past few years. It really means a lot to me to represent this program and Coach L. It is a team that is going to continue to get better and hopefully become one of the biggest programs in the country.

Coach L is fun. I definitely think he has a lot of fun. I remember looking at all of the memes and gifs that have been created regarding his locker room dances. He definitely makes playing basketball here about having fun.

My favorite thing about the U family is about how big it is. When we were at the NIT a couple years ago, Michael Irvin came and talked to us before the game. He talked about how the U family is worldwide, and he wouldn’t just be at the game, but people all around the world recognize the U, understand what it stands for and what it means to be a part of it.

I am closest on the team with Mike Robinson. He is my roommate during road trips and we live together during the summer. I spend a lot of time with him. We have a lot of similar interests, including the fact that we are both in the business school and we do a lot of studying together.

I wear the jersey number 35 because of Kevin Durant. When I was younger, I used to think my game was like KDs, so that is why I took his number. Which I didn’t even think about before, but I was really skinny and long when I was in middle school and high school and always tried to play like Durant.

Dunking feels great. Although, I do it more sparingly now that my body is getting older, unfortunately. So I only do it sometimes. But it feels great when you get a good jump and flush it through the net. It feels awesome.

If I wasn’t playing basketball I would probably be working. I would have a job somewhere, most likely, to help get myself through college. I would still be studying, but I would definitely have a job.

Some of my personal goals include starting up my own business. I am studying entrepreneurship so I am hoping to own my very own business or several different businesses someday. Another goal is to get married and eventually raise a family of my own.

I never thought I would be a part of basketball program like this. When I was in high school I was getting recruited by a lot of DIII schools that were local to my area. So I never pictured being a part of a nationally recognized program, going to the NCAA Tournament or the Sweet 16.

I was secretly wishing that we were going to be playing in Buffalo, N.Y., during the first two rounds of this seasons NCAA tournament. That is because my family could come to the games that way. All of the other locations were too far away, which means they are not able to come, which really stinks. I would have loved for them to come.

I like to watch a lot of different sports on television as well as go to sporting events. I am big baseball fan, so I go to the Hurricanes baseball games as well as Marlins games, in Miami. I also love to watch football and play golf with my friends back home. My favorite baseball team is the Yankees. I am a huge Yankees fan thanks to my mom. My dad grew up in New Hampshire and was a Red Sox fan, but my mom grew up in Pennsylvania, so she was a Yankees fan. My house was slightly divided because of that, but somehow she got both my brother and I to become Yankees fans.

My favorite holiday is Christmas, because I always get to go home and see my family at Christmas. Especially now since I don’t get to make it back as often, so it is really a special time.

Nobody knows that I can write computer code. I took a computer class last semester so it is kind of an interesting thing I know how to do. I can’t do it that well, but I at least know the basics.

I pictured becoming a man as getting a job, starting a family and being able to support them, and still do.

After college, my goal is to become a Rhodes Scholar. I have been nominated for it, so I am hoping to earn that in order to travel to England and study.