Coaches say Peoria High’s rising star Leshawn Stowers needs ‘to be more selfish’

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — Leshawn Stowers stock is rising.

The Peoria High guard holds a couple of Division I college offers and he’s getting attention from other coaches who are seeing the 6-5 junior improve throughout the season.

Stowers says the college attention is rewarding.

“It’s a fun process grinding everything out. To hear those (college) coaches say they trust my work that I’ve been putting in for years,” said Stowers. “It’s coming together.”

Stowers says he’s really a player that would rather pass than score but he has developed a touch for scoring. He has offers from Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois and the University of Incarnate Word.

A Peoria High coach Daniel Ruffin, who played college basketball at Bradley, thinks he needs to score a little more to round out his game.

“We want him to be ‘the guy’ and get used to it. At the end of the day, it will help him in the long run,” Ruffin said. “He still has a pass-first mentality but for us to be successful we need him to be a little more aggressive. And take that to another lever to make his teammates better.”

Stowers says this season has been an adjustment as he has moved onto the lead scoring role with the Lions.

“Me being me, I just like making the right plays and getting everybody the ball,” explained Stowers. “It’s big to adjustment.”

The Lions are challenging the easy-going Stowers to shoot more and a little more selfish with the ball on the court.

“They tell me everyday in practice I have to be more selfish,” Stowers said of his coaches. “I have to be more selfish to win more games for us.”

Peoria High believes the more selfish Stowers gets, the better his game will be, the better his team will be and the the better his recruiting will be.

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