Fowlers leading Rebels to special season

Layne Fowler hates comparing basketball teams.

When pressed, though, the Byrnes coach will admit that this year’s Rebels team has some similarities to the 2016 team that won the 4A state title.

“We’re versatile like that team,” he said. “We typically are better when we can get up and down the floor, but we’ve learned to win some grind-out games that we maybe haven’t won the past couple of years. I think our basketball IQ is similar to that team. We have some experience. We have a lot of guys who have been through the region and the rigors of our schedule for several years. I think if we can continue to guard and rebound, we have more scoring options than we’ve had probably since that ‘16 team.”

There’s a big difference, too. That team had one Fowler. This one has three.

Layne’s sons, senior Will and freshman Colton, make up a lot of the heart of the Rebels. Will leads the team in scoring with 18 points per game. Colton scores almost nine per contest, and dishes out five assists per game. The Rebels are 23-4, ripped through Region II-5A undefeated at 8-0, and are set to host Fort Mill in the second round of the 5A playoffs.

All three Fowlers are having a blast.

“Things are going really well,” Will said. “Things have panned out. It took a lot of work, but it’s paid off. It’s really exciting around here, to say the least. It’s everything. It’s special to come out and show the community that we can play, to show other teams we can play. Later down the road, hopefully it will be fun to look back and see some of the things we accomplished.”

Colton is enjoying the opportunity to play on a team with his brother, and he recognizes the Rebels’ potential.

“Its’s special because it’s Will’s last year,” he said. “It’s the last dance with him. But it’s also special because this could be one of the best teams I’ll play on in high school.”

Layne is just trying to soak in the fact that he’s coaching both sons, all the while trying to lead the Rebels.

“It’s a blessing to get to coach my boys,” he said. “I know for them sometimes it’s tough. But it’s been special, probably more than anything I even dreamed it could be. Hopefully we can keep it going and make a run. But either way it’s been neat. I probably haven’t stepped back to take it in much, but I have a little bit. And when I watch it on film, and when I think about things, it makes it even cooler.”

The road to this season wasn’t smooth. Will missed nearly all of last season after a foot injury in December. An outstanding football player – he was Byrnes’ leading tackler as a junior in 2022 – Will hoped to get back for his senior year in both sports. After nearly four months of rehab, Will was cleared to play. In his first AAU basketball practice, he injured the foot again.

This time, the recovery was longer. In total, Will was sidelined for almost 11 months.

“The second surgery and rehab was definitely longer,” he said. “They took a couple of screws out and put a plate in, took some of my heel out. It was a long time (of recovery). I knew the sun would shine another day, I just had to be patient.”

That patience included giving up football, which Layne calls Will’s first love.

“He’s played it his whole life,” Layne said. “He was doing everything he could. Even as late as the seventh game of the year, he was thinking about how he could come back. I love watching him play football. It’s helped him with basketball. But it just wasn’t in God’s timing.

Will said the situation was a difficult one.

“It was definitely tough,” he said. It’s something I played forever. I created a lot of good friendships. I had great coaches. It was just something I had to sacrifice. It helped me in the long run. I would’ve played if I was healthy. But it would’ve been really late, maybe one of the last region games. I would have only been healthy for playoff run.

And he might have run the risk of missing what’s turning out to be a special basketball season.

Will and Colt have a different take on how they know a particular night will be a good one for the Rebels.

“It’s easy to say it’s when shots are falling, but that’s not the real reason,” Will said. “The real reasons for us is if we’re talking, if we’re boxing out, if we’re doing the little things. If we’re overcommunicating on defense. That’s a good night for us. We know we have the players to make shots. Defensively, that’s where it starts for us. Our offense will take care of itself.”

And if those things that the Rebels can control aren’t going well?

“That’s when (fellow captain) Kayzzin McDowell and myself will fix it real quick,” Will said.

Colt sees the same things as his brother, and thinks that there’s a different energy when the Rebels are at their best.

“When we came out against teams like Greer and Dorman, we came out with a lot of energy and ready to play,” he said. “Sometimes it just takes that spark. Talk on defense, pressure the ball, get a stop. That’s what builds it up, pretty much.”

Layne agrees with both.

“My favorite attribute of both of them when they’re on the court is their competitive nature,” he said. “I love that spirit, how they want to compete, how they try to win, how they try to make their teammates better.  For me, a good night is seeing us engaged, seeing us connected, seeing them leading, especially Will leading. Will and Kayzzin are our two captains for a reason, but Will tends to set the tone. Colton’s just a gamer, ready to jump in and do whatever his team needs. This year, that’s been distributing the basketball. He’s got uncanny basketball IQ. He’s right about being energetic, having good body language, being connected. And Will’s right that  if we’re engaged on defense, things tend to go well. I tell them all the time that you can’t predicate your game on shots going in. It’s got to be reversed. Are we guarding as a team, are we rebounding, are we getting out in transition? The shots are going to go in.”

Will’s leadership role is something he takes seriously, and says he might be tougher on Colt than other teammates.

“I probably am,” he said. “I don’t say it, but I think I am. We grew up with our Dad as our coach. We’ve experienced it for a long time. When something happens, you don’t have time to sit and pout. You put your head down and you go back to work. We turn it off a little bit. We have fun. But when it’s time to play, to work out, to do anything, we’re focused and locked in.”

 Layne appreciates Will’s role as well, and notices when it’s applied to his younger brother.

“I’ve noticed it more recently,” he said. “Colt’s the little bit louder one, a little more showy. Will’s competitiveness is very intrinsic. It’s close to the vest. But when he does get fired up, especially at a teammate, I can see it. And you know, he’s earned those stripes. It’s not even big brother picking on you. It’s that he’s been that freshman on the varsity and at that level. And it’s fun to see how much they love to see the other do well.”

Layne sees Colt developing those leadership qualities as well.

“They know what I expect, and they can relay it,” he said. “Colt’s been on the sideline for the C-team for four straight games. He’s genuinely talking to his buddies about how and why we set up a certain set, the angles that we want to play. It’s pretty neat.”

The Fowlers also share some high hopes for the rest of this season.

“Of course we want to win a state championship, but that’s a long way away,” he said. “We have to look at each game. You can get beat any night. You have to come out and be ready to play. But we definitely have a shot.”

“I just want to keep doing what we’re doing,” Colt said. “It feels like we’re playing the best basketball we’ve played all year right now.”

Coach Fowler shares those hopes for his boys. But dad’s hopes go far beyond that.

“My hope for them is that they can have basketball be a vehicle for their life,” he said. “I met my wife of 23 years (Byrnes’ girls coach Missy), I’ve been blessed to coach, this is year 25. I feel like I’ve made an impact on kids lives and they’ve made an impact on my life. I hope basketball can open doors for them for their friendships, for potentially one day a spouse, it could be their occupation, but just for that love of competing. I think we all miss some of that that we were fortunate enough to have growing up. I hope they see the Good Lord gave them the ability to play a game, and that they didn’t waste it. I hope they can say that they went out there and worked at what He gave them.”