Malcolm Dowdy, Class of 1987: Basketball
Record books, banners and plaques capture history and those who help make it. The year 1987 found its permanent place on two basketball banners that currently hang in Peddie’s Erik B. Hanson ’83 Field House, thanks to Malcolm Dowdy ’87. For his individual basketball achievements and his hoops team’s accomplishments, Dowdy now takes his place in the Peddie Sports Hall of Fame.
A three-year varsity starter on the basketball court, Dowdy found early success as a Falcon. Playing alongside three postgraduates and one senior, the sophomore averaged 10 points per game and erupted for 32 points in a game against Rutgers Prep. Dowdy followed up his first hoops campaign by averaging 19.1 points per contest, which included two games against Hun and St. Benedict’s in which the junior finished with career highs of 33 points in each game. Head Coach Al Lozier said of Dowdy’s junior season, “The spectacular nature of his play didn’t surprise me. Malcolm has all of the tools to be an outstanding player.”
As a senior Falcon, Dowdy averaged 22 points per game and became Peddie’s third basketball player to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Needing 15 points, Dowdy netted 16 points against St. Benedict’s. Held to four points through the first three quarters, Dowdy erupted for 12 in the final minutes. The swingman scored points 1,000 and 1,001 in dramatic fashion by stealing the ball and going coast-to-coast for a thunderous slam dunk.
Saving his best for last, Dowdy torched Blair for 24 points in the NJISAA Prep A semifinals, setting up the championship match with Hun. Dowdy and his fellow Falcons, losers of three straight to the Raiders, including an overtime loss in the 1986 semifinal game, stormed back from a 48-42 deficit to claim a 60-59 victory. Dowdy connected for eight of his game-high 26 points in the last quarter in which Peddie outscored Hun 18-11.
Dowdy finished his Peddie basketball career with 1,051 points and one state championship and solidified his place as one of the top basketball players in the country when he was nominated for the 1987 McDonald’s All American High School Basketball Team.
Dowdy earned an athletic scholarship to Adelphi University where he found the baskets on Long Island to be just as accommodating. As a senior captain during the 1990-91 season, Dowdy led the Panthers to a 20-10 record and graduated as the all-time leading scorer at Adelphi. His career totals of 1,897 points, 18.2 points per game and 207 career steals currently rank second, and at the current time, holds the record for career field goals (730) and field goals made in a single game (16). Dowdy was inducted into the Adelphi Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, in his first year of eligibility.
After leading Peddie to the 1987 Prep A championship and ending a 14-year state title drought, Dowdy said to The Times, “Nice way for me to leave Peddie.” This year’s induction into the Peddie Sports Hall of Fame is the perfect way to come back.