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All-Star Lowry a good example for Villanova players

Kyle Lowry hasn't become a star without working at it, and Villanova's players have seen it firsthand, early on summer mornings.

Kyle Lowry has won over admirers, including current Villanova players, by his work ethic.
Kyle Lowry has won over admirers, including current Villanova players, by his work ethic.Read moreMatt Slocum / Associated Press

DURING THE SUMMER months, when the campus is deserted and many of their classmates are celebrating life as a college kid at the beach, the Villanova basketball players drag themselves to the Pavilion for practice. This is the price of a scholarship.

When they start to congregate at 6:30 in the morning, they often see former Wildcat Kyle Lowry just winding down his own workout. The presence of the 9-year NBA veteran, who signed a huge NBA contract in July, always opens the eyes of the current players under Jay Wright's charge.

This weekend in New York, Lowry will become the first Villanova player in the Wright era to play in an NBA All-Star Game.

"That gives us great pride in Villanova basketball and in Kyle Lowry," junior guard Ryan Arcidiacono said. "That just shows how much work he's put in. Coach has produced NBA players that have been solid, team-first guys. But to have a guy like Kyle, who is becoming a star in the league, has just been great. We see him come in in the summertime before us - at like 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning."

Dante Cunningham, Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Maalik Wayns are the others to play under Wright to make it to the NBA, but nobody has made an impact like Lowry. The last City Six alum to be selected to play in the ASG was Saint Joseph's Jameer Nelson in 2009. Nelson did not play in the game, however, because of injury.

Lowry's career was relatively routine his first six seasons when he often sulked on the court and clashed with coaches. But a trade to Toronto has changed Lowry's career and his life. So has marriage and fatherhood.

"I don't know why I was like I was. I was always mad," Lowry told the Toronto Sun. "Things don't always go your way. You make mistakes. You make them out to be bigger than they are. You build them up. At the end of the day, you're mad, then you're mad at yourself. It's no way to be."

Lowry, 28, led the Raptors to a division title last season and a sure repeat this year with a 14 1/2-game lead at the All-Star break. He is so popular - in and outside of Toronto - that he was able to edge Dwyane Wade with a late push in fan voting to become the first local player to start an All-Star Game since Temple's Eddie Jones in 2000.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista led all of baseball All-Star voting last summer with 5.86 million votes - two million more than Derek Jeter, by the way.

Even without the ballot-stuffing, Lowry would have been an All-Star. He's averaging 18.6 points, his 7.2 assists are 10th in the league and his team is in first place. Lowry is validating the 4-year, $48 million investment the Raptors made in him in July.

"I'm more motivated than I've ever been," said Lowry, who was the Toronto Sun athlete of the year in 2014. "It wasn't about getting a contract. I was going to get that. It's about me fulfilling my contract, doing my duties. It's about winning. It's about working harder. They gave me the money for a reason. It's about being a professional."

Lowry had the talent coming out of Cardinal Dougherty, he just needed polish and maturity. He was the Big 5 Player of the Year as a freshman and gone after his sophomore season. When the Grizzlies made him the 24th pick in 2006, Lowry was 20 years old.

"He came through this program and look at him now, he's an NBA All-Star," said guard Darrun Hilliard, 21. "If he can do it, the sky's the limit for the 15 guys here. Who knows what can happen?"

The chances of Hilliard or any of his 14 teammates making an NBA All-Star Game are slim, but never deny what an inspired young person can do. A lot of that inspiration comes from the perspiration of Lowry's summertime workouts at the Pavilion at the crack of dawn.

"Sure, it helps recruiting, but it also [motivates] our guys," Wright said. "He's already in the league. He's an All-Star and he's been in here since 5 o'clock in the morning working out. This is what we should be doing. It really has a positive impact on our program."