FLINT, Mich. — Doug Anderson is just a dunker.
He can’t convert to the NCAA’s Division I basketball ranks.
LaMarcus Lowe is big for nothing. The 6-foot-11 senior will never be a true center on the college hoops scene. Or can he?
Anderson, a former Mott player, and Lowe, a 2007 Flint Northwestern graduate, have been highly doubted at some point in their lives.
The University of Detroit Mercy first-year teammates have heard remarks like the ones listed above quite often.
And they don’t care.
In the first two games of the 2011-12 season, Lowe is the team’s leader in rebounds.
Lowe averages 7.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks in 23.5 minutes on 46.2 percent shooting.
He is tied for the No. 18 spot amongst the NCAA’s top shot blockers.
Anderson comes off the bench and posts 7.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and one block per game.
He averages 25.0 minutes and shoots 54.5 percent from the field at the center position.
The Titans are off to a 1-1 start.
UDM lost 59-53 to Notre Dame at Notre Dame in a game that was televised nationally.
They will challenge Concordia tonight at home at 7 p.m. in Calihan Hall.
“It’s nice to come up here and see what my abilities are really capable of,” said Anderson, who led MCC to the NJCAA Division II national runner-up finish as a sophomore. “I’m capable of everything.”
Anderson admits that the game is a lot more physical and faster than the competition was for him at Mott, but says that it hasn’t been that big of an adjustment.
Lowe is a fifth-year senior for the Titans.
The Northwestern product has established himself as one of the premier shot-blockers in the nation.
In 2010-11, Lowe finished No. 22 on the NCAA Division I men’s leaders list for blocked shots with 78 total and 2.36 per game. He already has seven in two games.
Although he only played 10 total high school varsity games — due to a reported violation of an MHSAA policy as a senior — Lowe sculpted himself into a top prospect.
“I took a lot of criticism in the beginning, and it used to bother me a lot,” Lowe said. “I didn’t know any better, I just wanted to be good at what I did at that time, but I just used it as extra motivation to continue to get better and grow in each kind of way.”
After his brief stint with the Wildcats, Lowe traveled to Vincennes University, a junior college in Indiana, where he upped his grades to meet NCAA requirements.
He then accepted an offer to attend Western Michigan where he played one year.
Lowe led the Mid-American Conference with the most blocked (48).
He then decided to transfer to U-D, and had to sit out the entire 2009-10 season under NCAA rules, but played in 33 games for the Titans in the 2010-11 campaign.
Lowe earned the team’s Norm Swanson Top Newcomer Award as a junior in the Motor City.
His sights are now set even higher.
“This is just my last go around,” Lowe said. “I’m trying to be more productive on both ends of the court and improve from last year and just help my team. I just want to be a better player and leave some type of legacy when I leave here in March.”
Both Lowe and Anderson already knew each other prior to joining forces in Motown.
When Lowe was a Bronco in Kalamazoo for WMU, Anderson was a high school senior at Kalamazoo Central High School.
Anderson frequently attended open gyms on the college campus and the two became familiar with each other.
They both made pit stops in Flint along the way, which makes their connection more special at Detroit Mercy.
Titans head coach Ray McCallum expects the two post players to make big contributions to the program this season.
“LaMarcus has just been a tremendous player for us and he’s going to be one of the top shot blockers in the Horizon League and a big key for us,” McCallum said.
“Doug Anderson has brought tremendous energy and effort and he’s making the transition to the Division I with his ability to go inside and outside and he’s provided a lot of highlights for us.”
“We’re really excited to have both of them, and they have done a great job of representing the Flint area,” he added.
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