Gold Rush: Player Profile - Josh Howard
3/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2003
By Jay Reddick
For three years, Josh Howard had someone to follow. And that was fine with him.
But today, as he prepares to close his senior season at Wake Forest, Howard is a leader. And that's pretty OK, too.
Howard is the most gifted basketball player to come through Winston-Salem in a long time. He scores, rebounds, and plays defense as well as anyone in college basketball. But in this month of tribute and appreciation, the thing to remember about No. 5 is how much he has grown in just his four years here.
In February 2001, Howard told Gold Rush, "It's crazy that they (my teammates) look to me as a leader." That season, as a sophomore, Howard led the Deacons in scoring and steals, and finished among the top 20 in the ACC in rebounding. But on a team with three seniors and four juniors, he wasn't comfortable being the man everyone turned to.
"I was never the one that anybody had to follow," Howard says now. "I did what I wanted to do or watched the leaders in front of me and decided if it was right or not."
As he entered his junior season, Howard's tone had changed a little, but he was still reluctant.
"It all comes back to that leadership thing," Howard told Gold Rush in October 2001. "I don't necessarily want to be that one, but I know I might have to do it."
Last season, you could see Howard's confidence and maturity growing. A late-season ankle injury kept him from taking the reins completely, but he looked much more ready.
After the season, he told head coach Skip Prosser how prepared he was.
"Last spring, he verbalized to me that he understood he needed to (be the team leader), even though it's not his personality, even though it's something he's not overly comfortable with," Prosser said. "He was cognizant of the fact that he was by far the most logical choice for that position, and I think he's done a wonderful job."
To that end, he played through nagging leg pain early in the year, then put together a season (through March 5) that should earn him ACC Player of the Year honors, if not a spot on the All-America team: 19.8 points per game, eight rebounds, more than two steals and almost a block and a half per contest.
"He's the best player in our league," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told the Winston-Salem Journal. "He's a beautiful player to watch on both ends of the court."
And he has led the Deacons to (at least a share of) the ACC regular-season championship.
"I trust myself a whole lot more," Howard said. "I have much more confidence in myself. And that passes down. The guys saw, even with my injury at the start of the year, how much I wanted to play through it, and that had a whole lot to do with those guys wanting to play hard."
It's worth noting that Howard said this, with his ankle wrapped in ice and elevated, on the day after his final appearance at Joel Coliseum. Considering the year he is having, he doesn't need to prove himself. But he does, again and again.
"He's just like Superman," said sophomore teammate Taron Downey. "He's our senior leader. He does whatever it takes for us to win."
Howard's leadership has been not just by example but verbal as well. He's not afraid to take a teammate aside for advice on the court. He has also become much more of a team spokesman with the public and the press.
"It comes with the territory," Howard said. "I enjoy the fans, mostly, especially the kids. I love to see the looks on people's faces. With the media, I love to talk about how they picked us for sixth in the league. They can see my smile and see how wrong they were."
The biggest smile for Howard may have come after that last appearance at Joel, a 75-60 victory over North Carolina, when the students picked him up on their shoulders and he went crowd-surfing.
"I wasn't expecting that. It was nice," Howard said the next day. "I want to say thanks for everything that everyone's done for me. I appreciate it."
Howard credits his change in attitude to maturity and to Prosser. The change in head coaches after Howard's sophomore season gave him a chance to show his game to a new mentor, and he took advantage of it.
"I was the type of player then where I didn't stay after practice to work out," Howard said. "Coach Prosser came in, and he liked gym guys. I took that, and listened to it, and I started working on my game and getting good results from it."
That hard work is helping the Deacons now, but it also will help Howard next year when he hopes to play pro basketball.
"I've been fortunate to coach a few guys who are in the NBA, and I told him, this is what you need to do," Prosser said. "He's now a much better shooter, and he handles the ball better. Off the court, his concentration level is much higher, and that's manifested itself in how well he's played. It's helped him, and it's helped our team."
Of course, Howard still has a couple of weeks left to play for Wake Forest. And he'll love every second of it.
"It's been a blessing and a wonderful ride," Howard said. "I wouldn't have expected to do these kinds of things. I knew we'd be good, but I didn't know how good. I've enjoyed seeing how good we can be."