Prior to his time at West Virginia, he played basketball for Lafayette High School, where he was named 1981 Western New York co-player of the year by The Buffalo News.
[3] Rowe was named the 1981 Western New York boys' basketball co-player of the year (with Ray Hall) by The Buffalo News.
[2] As a freshman, Rowe led the 1981–82 West Virginia Mountaineers, which was the Eastern Athletic Association[a] regular season-champion in rebounding (5.5 rpg).
[7] Rowe was selected along with Terence Stansbury, Mike Brown and Barry Mungar, among others, to a 12-man Atlantic 10 Conference all-star team to tour Spain for a 12-day, 8-game tour to play against Spain, Panama and Soviet Union national teams in Santiago de Compostela, Palma de Mallorca and Madrid from May 12 to 22, 1983.
[12] Rowe, who was known for his leaping ability, was joined by Brown, Maurice Martin, John Battle and Granger Hall on the 1984 preseason All-Atlantic 10 first team.
[15] However, Atlantic 10 basketball commissioner Charlie Theokas restored West Virginia's victory two days later, noting that "[w]hen the referees signaled Rowe's field goal was good, and subsequently left the floor, the game was over.
[21] Rowe was teammates with Nancy Lieberman on the Long Island Knights of the United States Basketball League in 1987.
[23] On December 8, 1987, the International Basketball Association conducted its draft with Lester Rowe being selected in the first round with the fourth pick by Ohio.
[29] Rowe was hired as an assistant coach for Gale Catlett and West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball in September 1997.
He served on the staff for five seasons, highlighted by a Sweet Sixteen run by the 1997–98 team in the 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
[28][30] He was reprimanded by Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby for his involvement in a post-game melee at the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center on November 17, 2013.
[35] On July 1, 2020, Rowe joined the Xavier Musketeers women's basketball staff under head coach Melanie Moore.
[28][2] Mona was an all-state basketball player as a junior, but she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in her 2008–09 senior season.