Rowan senior Austin Kearney is closing out what has been a long, and sometimes trying, journey of a basketball career which may not have started as he hoped, but is certainly ending on a high note.
 
After winning back-to-back championships at Gloucester County Christian School, and finishing as the school's all-time leading scorer with over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, he achieved his biggest goal - to earn a college scholarship like many others in his family have.
 
The Kearney family has a history in college basketball starting with his father, Steve, who was on the 1981 St. Joe's team that upset #1 DePaul to his uncle, Tim, who played for West Virginia and was a third-round draft pick by the Portland Trailblazers in 1984. It continued with his sisters, Sarah who played at RCGC and Olivet Nazarene, and Catherine, who played at Liberty.
 
Kearney accepted his scholarship to play for Assumption College in Massachusetts without even looking at Rowan, despite it being local to his hometown of Monroeville. He only played one season at Assumption and never got a real opportunity to find his place on the team. That's when he contacted Rowan head coach Joe Crispin, whom he had worked out with previously in high school. Kearney credits Crispin as the reason why he is still playing basketball after losing the passion for it after his freshman year.
 
"He really helped me find that love again. Not to say it's all been roses and rainbows coming here, but it's helped my game and I've really found a family here at Rowan," said Kearney.
 
In his third year at Rowan, he has worked his way into the starting lineup for his senior year and is one of the team's leaders with 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He's succeeded in the classroom too, earning NJAC All-Academic honorable mention and being named a Rowan Scholar-Athlete.
 
Kearney had to make adjustments in how he played to see that success carry over to the college level, and it wasn't an easy transition.
 
"When you come out of high school after scoring a lot of points and having a lot of rebounds, you have this whole grand scheme of how you think college is going to go. But when it doesn't go your way and kind of falls apart, your whole outlook has to change," explained Kearney.  "Especially here when it is really about the team. I mean we've got five guys that could be on the court at any given time and can go out and give you 30 (points), and if it's someone's night then you have to be big enough to take a step back and let him go. Honestly, being here has helped me grow even more as a person."
 
Although the team has been rattled by sickness and injuries all season, the Profs have gotten hot at the right time heading into the NJAC Tournament. Kearney points to what Crispin has been saying all season – 'don't let your suffering go to waste'.
 
That's been their mentality as Kearney and his teammates have made their push in the final month of the season. The Profs had hoped to host an NJAC Tournament game, but the conference tiebreaker bumped them to the sixth seed and they'll visit Ramapo in the first round.
 
But Kearney appreciates how supportive the Rowan fans have been during his final season. "The fan base here is ridiculous, when you step on the court you feel the energy in the building - it's great."
 
And with the continued support from his family and the fans of Rowan basketball, Kearney hopes to lead the Profs to another successful postseason run just one more time.