Monte Corwin Towe is an American
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach and retired player.
Towe attended
Oak Hill High SchoolOak Hill High School is a high school located outside of Converse, Indiana.-Athletics:The Golden Eagles compete in the Central Indiana Conference . They switched to the CIC in 2006 after formerly being in the Three Rivers Conference . Oak Hill is known to have had a strong football tradition,...
in
Converse, IndianaConverse is a town in Richland Township, Grant County and Jackson Township, Miami County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,148 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Converse is located at ....
. He was the starting point guard on
North Carolina StateNorth Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
's 1974 NCAA championship team, and also played varsity
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
for NC State, earning All-ACC recognition in basketball and playing on conference championship teams in both sports. (One of his baseball and basketball teammates,
Tim StoddardTimothy Paul Stoddard is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is one of only two known men to have played in both a World Series and an NCAA basketball national championship game....
, would go on to have success as a
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcherIn baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
.) In 1975, the 5'7" (1.7 m) Towe received the
Frances Pomeroy Naismith AwardThe Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award is an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter–than–average players who excel on the court despite their size. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter–in–law, was established for men in 1969 and for women in 1984...
as the year's best college player under 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. Monte Towe and
David ThompsonDavid O'Neil Thompson is a former American professional basketball star with the Denver Nuggets of both the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association , as well as the Seattle SuperSonics...
are credited with "inventing" the
alley-oopAn alley-oop in basketball is an offensive play in which one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in mid air and immediately scores a basket, usually with a slam dunk...
. Because dunking was illegal at the time, Towe would throw the ball to Thompson while he was in the air and Thompson would gently drop the ball in the basket. Towe was drafted by the
Denver NuggetsThe Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
in the third round of the 1975 ABA Draft and by the
Atlanta HawksThe Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
in the fourth round of the
1975 NBA DraftThe 1975 NBA Draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on May 29, 1975 before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...
. Towe joined Thompson in signing with Denver, for whom he played in 1976 in the final year of the
American Basketball AssociationThe American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...
and in 1977 when Denver joined the NBA. He played in the 1976 ABA All-Star game when the game format was Denver vs. All-Stars.
After his retirement as a player, Towe became an assistant coach under
Norm SloanNorman Sloan , nicknamed "Stormin' Norman," was an American college basketball player and coach. Sloan played college basketball for North Carolina State University, and thereafter, he was the men's basketball head coach for Presbyterian College, The Citadel, the University of Florida and North...
, first at NC State (1979–80) and then at the
University of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
(1981–89). During the 1990s, he was coach and general manager of two teams in the
Global Basketball AssociationThe Global Basketball Association was a minor league with various franchises in the United States. Teams were located throughout the South and Midwest...
; coach of a professional team in
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
(Marinos de Oriente); an assistant coach of the
Sioux Falls SkyforceThe Sioux Falls Skyforce is a professional basketball team that plays in the NBA Development League. They are based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. The team plays at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Skyforce began in the CBA in 1989...
of the
Continental Basketball AssociationThe Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...
under head coach
Flip SaundersPhillip "Flip" Saunders is an American basketball head coach of the Washington Wizards. He previously coached the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves.-High school and college player:Saunders was born in Cincinnati, Ohio....
; coach of two junior college teams; and an assistant coach at the
University of North Carolina at AshevilleThe University of North Carolina at Asheville is a co-educational, four year, public liberal arts university. The university is also known as UNC Asheville. Located in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, UNCA is the only designated liberal arts institution in the University of North...
.
In 2000, Towe was named head basketball coach at the
University of New OrleansThe University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor...
. He compiled a 70-78 record over five seasons. In May 2006, he left UNO to become associate head coach at North Carolina State under head coach
Sidney LoweSidney Rochell Lowe is an American basketball coach and is currently an assistant coach with the Utah Jazz. He is a former NBA player and head coach, and has served as the head coach at North Carolina State University,.-Biography:Lowe began his career at DeMatha Catholic High School in...
. On April 14, 2011, he was named an assistant coach at
Middle Tennessee State UniversityMiddle Tennessee State University, commonly abbreviated as MTSU, is a public university located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States....
.
Towe was inducted into the
Indiana Basketball Hall of FameThe Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. It honors men and women associated with high school, college and professional basketball in Indiana....
in 2002.
External links