WILLIMANTIC, Conn. –  Michael J. Garrow, the first National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-America in the history of the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball program and the tournament MVP of the program's first ECAC tournament title team, has been selected for induction into the Eastern Connecticut State University Athletics Alumni Hall of Fame, as announced by committee chair Scott Smith.
 
Garrow becomes the third announced member of the Class of 2025, which will hold its 31st induction ceremony and social Saturday, Oct. 18 at the campus's Fine Arts Instructional Center concert hall and lobby. The induction ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. and will be followed by a social at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are priced at $50 each. For additional information, visit https://gowarriorathletics.com/sports/2020/5/21/hall-of-fame.
 
Previously-announced Alumni Hall of Fame inductees were Priscilla (Alicea) Pierro '12 (softball) and Amy (Arisco) Geriak '12 (women's swimming).
 
A five-year player who missed most all of his third season in 2011/12 with mononucleosis, Garrow was named third-team NABC All-America in his fifth and final season in 2013/14, becoming the program's first All-America in 51 years (following Eastern Alumni Hall of Famer Anthony Romano's AP Little All-America recognition in 1962/63).
 
During his All-America season, Garrow was additionally named the program's first participant to the NABC/Reese's Senior College All-Star Game as one of Division III's top 18 seniors,  first-team NABC All-Northeast District, first-team ECAC All-New England, second-team D3hoops.com All-Northeast Region, Little East Conference Player-of-the-Year, as a first-team all-conference repeater, and the departmental Male Athlete-of-the-Year.
 
A native of Terryville and an All-Stater at Terryville High School, the 6-foot-4 inch, 200-pound wing helped the Warriors to the first undefeated 14-0 season by any time in Little East men's basketball history in his All-America season and fifth straight 20-win season and fifth straight post-season tournament appearance. That year, he averaged a team-high 17.5 points (second in the LEC), and was second on the team with a 7.6 rebounding mark (fifth in the LEC) and 81.3 free-throw percentage (sixth in the LEC) and was also second on the team with a 3.0 assist average.
 
Garrow concluded his 121-game career tied for ninth all-time with 1,312 points, with 963 of his points coming in his final two seasons. Only 68 of his career points (5 percent) came on three-point field goals, with 26 percent of his career total (351) coming thanks to his 76.5 free-throw marksmanship. Eleven years after graduation, Garrow ranks in a tie for 11^th all-time in points, is 12^th in rebounds (585), third in free throws (352), fifth in free throw attempts (460) and 11^th in free throw percentage. His 156 free throws and 192 free throw attempts in his final year rank second all-time in a season – the former category only three shy of the season record.
 
With Garrow under head coach Bill Geitner, Eastern went 110-41 (72.8 percent) overall and 56-14 (80.0) in the LEC regular season in five years, captured its first LEC tournament title and two LEC regular-season titles and won ten of 14 ECAC and NCAA post-season tournament games.
 
In his fourth season in 2012/13 – the year after missing the final 25 games of the year due to illness after starting the first five --  Garrow averaged 14.6 points and 5.5 rebounds with a career-high 50.5 field goal percentage and additional season career-best of 29 three-point field goals, 20 steals and 15 blocked shots.
 

After the Warriors finished second in the ECAC tournament in Garrow's freshman and sophomore seasons, Garrow led the third-seeded Warriors to their first ECAC tournament title in his fourth season with three-game tournament totals of 57 points, 22 rebounds and ten assists in earning tournament MVP honors. He was 23-of-34 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range in the tournament. In a 74-60 win at top-seeded Westfield State University in the tournament final, Garrow played all 40 minutes and had 25 points, and a career-high (to that point) 14 rebounds, and was 10-of-15 from the floor with a career-high four three-pointers (in five attempts).
 
In his first season, Garrow helped the Warriors to their first 20-win season in 17 years and a share of second place in the LEC regular-season. In Garrow's five years, Eastern averaged 22 wins overall and improved its conference regular-season win total every season, capped the its undefeated 14-0 campaign in 2013/14.
 
"Coach Geitner's trust in me as a freshman gave me the confidence to make an impact on the court early on and pushed me to develop my game each year," says Garrow, who also credits former assistant coaches Ryan Wilde and the late Kris (KJ) Johnson for his development. "Coach Wilde was always there for me to get in extra work after practice or on off-days and helped me learn to love the weight room. KJ was a special part of my time at Eastern. He was one of the first guys that I met during my recruiting visit when he was a senior, and when he transitioned to assistant coach during my freshman year, he was a great sounding board and was always in my ear, giving me a boost when I got frustrated at practice or in games."
 
After coming off the bench in 56 games over his first two seasons, Garrow started all possible 65 games the rest of the way – the only player on the team to start all 30 games in either 2012/13 or 2013/14.
 
Playing in the most successful five-year period in program history under Geitner, Garrow played at least one season alongside two Alumni Hall of Famers (Nick Nedwick and Edwin Ortiz), as well as with five potential future Alumni Hall of Famers.
 
After graduation, Garrow went on to play professionally for five seasons in Ireland with the Griffith College Swords Thunder in the Irish Super League (2015-16) and with UCD Marian in Dublin (2016-20). While with Griffith College, he helped the team reach the National Cup final. With UCD Marian in 2017-18, he led the team to its first Super League championship in 30 years and was honored as Eurobasket's Player-of-the-Year. That season, he averaged over 20 points and ten rebounds per game, was named first-team Irish Super League for one of three times in his career, and Player-of-the-Month for both November and December. "My time in Ireland was the continuation of a basketball journey that started at Terryville and Eastern," noted Garrow, "and I'm proud to have represented both on an international stage."
 
Garrow holds a B.S. Degree in Sport Management from Eastern and a Master of International Business (MIB) from Griffith College and works as a senior product manager with CVS Health. Garrow resides in Bridgeport with wife Megan, a former cross country athlete at Eastern and 2013 graduate of the University of Connecticut.
 
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