Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint.
By David Cordova
On the Temple Owls’ squad, there is plenty of great talent on the team, but most importantly, in the guard department. If you’re a team that has to face them, watch out. Their backcourt will definitely force you into turnovers and will hurt you with the baskets they make.
Quinton Rose is one of those dangerous Owls that can wreak havoc on the opposition as he has plenty of skill and height to match. Whenever the 6-foot-8 shooting guard is on the floor, you know he’s going to be a walking bucket and is good for at least 18 to 20 points a night.
When asked about what he wanted to improve on for his senior season, he replied, “Outside shooting, being consistent with my outside shot every time and taking care of the ball. For us to be successful this year, we have to do that.”
However, his strengths are: “I would say, [my] strengths are, getting to the basket, getting into transition, scoring the ball, finding the open teammate,” said Rose.
A native of Rochester, New York, he is a part of the growing trend of talented players of that part of upstate New York, alongside Thomas Bryant, who is in his third season in the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
When asked about the basketball culture up in Rochester, he replied, “It’s something that a lot of people don’t really know about, but we’re definitely putting the country on notice now. We have Thomas Bryant in the NBA and we have two guys at [the University of] Washington, Isaiah [Stewart] and Nazaiah [Carter], they should be pretty good this year. We’ve got Anthony Lamb, up at Vermont, Jalen Pickett at Siena, and Jeenathan [Williams] at Buffalo, even Keith [McGee] at New Mexico. We’ve got a lot of guys, and we should put the city on notice.”
At Bishop Kearney High School, Rose was one of the main standouts, as he averaged 23 points and six rebounds as a senior and was a second-team All-State selection in New York.
As a high schooler, he was recruited by many schools around the nation while playing on the Nike EYBL circuit with the Albany City Rocks. In his senior season, he decided to commit to Temple.
When asked why he chose to play for the Owls, he replied, “My dad, he liked Eddie Jones, I didn’t know who he was. I just knew about the history of the school, like John Chaney and Coach [Fran] Dunphy, and they showed me genuine love and kept it 100% with me, so that’s all I could ask for.”
Since he’s been at Temple, he’s been consistent in his scoring. As a freshman, he mostly came off the bench and averaged 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. As a sophomore year, he averaged 14.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Last season, as a junior, he put in ever more work, as he averaged 16.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game Rose’s performance last season earned him second-team honors for the American Athletic Conference and the Philadelphia Big 5.
Because of his performance, he also tested the NBA Draft waters by trying out for some teams in the spring. But he decided to come back to school and finish out his degree in Criminal Justice as well as help bring the Owls to the NCAA Tournament.
When asked about what advice he was given by the scouts of the NBA teams he worked out for, Rose replied, “It was just my body, I had to put some work in, but I put on 10 pounds this offseason, so that’s good. But it was consistency, like I said, consistency shooting the ball, taking care of the ball, I can’t turn it over.”
This season, there is change in leadership for the Owls. After 13 seasons, eight NCAA Tournament appearances and three Atlantic 10 Conference championships, longtime Fran Dunphy retired. Assistant coach and former NBA player Aaron McKie, who is also a Temple alum, has taken over the reins of the Owls.
When asked about similarities and differences between the two, Rose replied, “I would just say intensity, Coach McKie is younger, so naturally, he’s more into it, but we just try to come in hype every day and bring in the energy, and get in and get out.”
When asked about McKie previously being a part of the coaching staff before being hired as the head coach, he replied, “Him being a part of the staff made the transition much easier, because we were all familiar with him and knew what he was all about. He’s played 15 years [in the NBA] at the level we’re all trying to get to. He’s played in the NBA Finals, he’s played with some of the greats and played against them. I mean, we just listen to what he has to say, because he’s been there.”
Now that he’s a senior, Rose plans to make noise for one final season and hopes to make his last season with Temple a memorable one.
When asked about his time at Temple, he replied, “My four years has been pretty good, I started off, I came in and was playing right away, luckily, I was fortunate for that. But through the years, I just matured and learned a lot and seen the game a whole different way, so I mean, it’s been a successful career.”
On what he’ll miss about being an Owl when he graduates in May, he replied, “I think it’s going to be the people. Everybody’s feelings is genuine, they just show love, especially at Temple, it’s like a big family, so I’ll definitely miss that.”
Tonight, the Owls will play their first game of the season at home against Big 5 rivals, Drexel. Rose is ready for the last first game of his career in Philadelphia. Next season, he’ll be putting on a pro uniform. With the talent that Quinton Rose possesses, whichever team that picks him up, whether it be in the NBA, the NBA G-League, or overseas, will reap the benefits of having “Q-Rose” on their squad.
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