Kenny Anderson to tell all

[Orangeyes]

Skaneateles. I used to play in a summer rec league at Austin Park here. Occasionally, we would get an SU player or 2.

I used to play in that summer league too. Lots of very good players including Eric Pittman and Craig Kowadla.

 

[RF2044]

I used to play in that summer league too. Lots of very good players including Eric Pittman and Craig Kowadla.

Kowadla was one of the most underrated homegrown CNY talents from that late 80s / early 90s timeframe, IMO. Lots of good local talent from that era.

 

[007]

I used to play in that summer league too. Lots of very good players including Eric Pittman and Craig Kowadla.

Small world, Dan. We must have played against each other at some point. Eric was a good shooter. Kowadla...best player I ever coached against at the HS level, including Paulus.

 

[RF2044]

Small world, Dan. We must have played against each other at some point. Eric was a good shooter. Kowadla...best player I ever coached against at the HS level, including Paulus.

I think Kowadla gets overlooked because he came up during the same era where you had Z, Blunt, Buchanan, Caldwell, Levens, Mike Brown, etc. as D1 prospects all at the same time, but that kid could flat out score.

 

[007]

I think Kowadla gets overlooked because he came up during the same era where you had Z, Blunt, Buchanan, Caldwell, Levens, Mike Brown, etc. as D1 prospects all at the same time, but that kid could flat out score.

Yeah, if he were a couple of inches taller he would have been just as highly recruited as some of those guys. He had a nice career at LaFayette, as I recall. There was a lot of talent coming out of Westhill HS at that time.

 

[Orangeyes]

Little known Kowadla factoids, his dad Harry was a teammate of Jim Boeheim's on the Syracuse golf team. The elder Kowadla was also a cheerleader at SU. He once told me that he had saved, in order, every golf card from every round he ever played. Unfortunately he died at a relatively young age a six years ago.

Craig was on our team in that summer league.

Colgate & Manhattan really wanted him. He would have teamed with Adonal Foyle and Tucker Neale. That Red Raider team won the Patriot League and played in the NCAA's.

Manhattan was coached by Steve Lappas before he landed the Villanova gig. The Jasper's also made the NCAA's.

Regrettably, Lafayette never had the talent around Craig to get that far. The last I knew Kowadla still owned some career records for three point shooting and assists there.

 

[RF2044]

Regrettably, Lafayette never had the talent around Craig to get that far. The last I knew Kowadla still owned some career records for three point shooting and assists there.

Kowadla was a helluva shooter. If Paul Harris had his offensive game, he would have been Ricky Pierce, and a sure fire lottery pick.

 

[Orangeyes]

Craig was good friends with everyone at SU and they were aware of him but we had Sims and there was the issue of size. St. John's was Craig's dream school, he loved Louie. In the 8th grade Kowadla could dunk he had springs in his legs. He played against Caldwell several times in scrimmages and just owned him. He was as quick a player as there was.

 

[TampaLaker]

Skaneateles. I used to play in a summer rec league at Austin Park here. Occasionally, we would get an SU player or 2.

SU players at Austin Park... that must have way past my day... shoot, we barely had the high schoolers playing there in the summer...

 

[007]

SU players at Austin Park... that must have way past my day... shoot, we barely had the high schoolers playing there in the summer...

When was "your day?"

 

[TampaLaker]

When was "your day?"

Graduated 1980... Skaneateles is where the "Laker" comes from in my id...