Luke Rowe arrived at the Air Force Academy in 2019 after finishing his junior career with the Boston Jr. Bruins. In a twist of fate, the three-time Falcons captain will end his AFA career just outside of Boston in January.
Rowe will finish his eighth — and final — semester at the Academy this fall and then be commissioned as a lieutenant. Because he won’t be enrolled in school for the second semester, the NCAA won’t allow him to continue his athletic career once that semester starts in early January. That means the Falcons will be without one of their best players for the season’s stretch run.
How Did the Situation Get to This?
Rowe entered the Academy with last season’s graduating class, but took the spring 2021 semester off, something he detailed for The Flight Path that fall. That pushed his graduation back as well.
“(The Academy) just removed that from my sophomore year and put it on the back end,” Rowe said. “Would I have liked to stay another semester? Absolutely. But it’s a tax-payer funded school and their mission is to produce lieutenants. If they feel that I’ve completed all the requirements and I’m ready to be a lieutenant, I think it’s fair they feel they can’t justify continuing to spend tax-payer dollars when I’ve completed the mission at the Air Force Academy.
“If they think I’m ready, why would they keep me here?”
Say Rowe played a sport such as football that starts and finishes in one semester, there would be no problem. But hockey, like basketball and other winter sports, encompasses both semesters. So when Rowe must hang up his No. 4 in January, his teammates will be in the heat of the Atlantic Hockey season with 14 games left before playoffs.
“Luke Rowe has made important contributions in every way, shape and form,” AFA coach Frank Serratore said. “In many ways, he’s one of the marquee faces of cadet-athletes, one of the faces of the athletic department.
“Rowe is a special kid and a great leader who has a lot of charisma. There’s nothing not to like about him.”
Rowe was the first male Captain of Captains at the Academy last season. Co-captain Luke Robinson succeeded him this year.
It’s a Unique Situation in the NCAA
The irony of the situation is that if Rowe were at any other school with a Division I hockey program other than Air Force or Army West Point, he would be able to enroll in a graduate program, play out this season and be eligible to play another. That is because the NCAA granted a fifth year of eligibility to athletes enrolled during the “Covid years” 0f 2020-21. That, combined with the transfer portal, also is why there has been a proliferation of grad transfers on Atlantic Hockey rosters.
It’s how Rowe’s former defense partner, Brandon Koch, is playing a fifth season at Minnesota State, where’s in graduate school.
It’s disappointing, but there has been no sign of “poor me” syndrome from Rowe.
“He just takes it like a man,” Serratore said. “It’s a tough pill to swallow not getting that second semester. It’s a tough pill to swallow for all of us, but he’s handled it in a positive, mature way.”
Rowe’s Impact Is Unquestioned
The silver lining is at least the Falcons will get him for the first 22 games as they try to bounce back from a 12-22-2 season.
And make no mistake, Rowe is an impact player. A second-team All-Atlantic Hockey pick in 2022-23, Rowe scored a career-high 24 points which was second on the team. He’s the type of player who can control a game due to his skill but also his intensity and physical playing style. Falcons senior Will Gavin played against Rowe in the NCDC in junior hockey and told me coaches always prepared their players for what was in store when facing the defenseman.
Aside from the obvious skills, his management skills have been huge for the Falcons as well.
“He’s been our captain for three years. That’s a position voted on by your teammates, so that shows you how the room sees him,” Robinson said. “For me personally, he’s a very close friend. We’ve developed a lot of trust, a lot of vulnerability with each other. Especially when it comes to leadership, it’s fantastic to bounce ideas off of him and have that sounding board because he’s been in that position for the past two years.
“To have him here for the first half of the season is fantastic because he’s helped set the culture this year.
“I can’t say enough good things about what Luke Rowe has meant to the program and to me personally, helping with leadership and just being a great guy to be around.”
©First Line Editorial 2023
