Growing up in Atlanta, Coach Richard Howell began playing basketball in middle school. Before he found his passion in basketball, his primary sport was football. Those surrounding him imagined that he would make it to the NFL at a young age, already standing at 6’4. However, with all of the early morning practice camps and effort to pursue football, he realized he wasn’t ready for that commitment. With basketball though, he was ready to pursue it to the highest level.
From the first game, Howell excelled on the court. Around his junior year of high school, he realized that his passion could turn into a profession. Once Howell got accepted into North Carolina State University for basketball, it was a no-brainer. Not only did he get in for his passion, but his friends would also attend NC State and he would be close to his family.
At NC State, Howell made an impact right away. His freshman year, he played 14 minutes a game and averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds a game. His development continued throughout his career, culminating in a senior year where he was named to First-Team All-ACC. In his senior year, he led the ACC in rebounds per game, grabbing 10.9 boards a game.
After his impressive career at State, Howell played professionally both nationally and internationally. During his time playing professionally, Howell learned many valuable lessons. He shared key aspects in which basketball impacted him on and off the court, stating, “I really think basketball helped me in a professional aspect, in a social aspect, and you know when come on a team and you meet new people, at first it’s a little weird.” He continues on the connections he has formed, “it turns because at the end of the season you call them your family, you call them your brothers.”
After an extremely successful career at Wheeler High School in Georgia, Howell committed to play for the NC State Wolfpack in July of 2008 and signed his letter of intent on February 4, 2009. While in high school he was ranked as the #9 player in Georgia and was a 4-star recruit per 247 Sports.
“When I was a player I would always hear that you would make a great coach…you would be an amazing coach.” He never thought he would be a coach. Howell thought when he was done with basketball he would drop it completely. He tried to retire two years ago but it continued to weigh on him. He went back to playing, but it didn’t satisfy him the way he thought it would. Eventually, Howell decided he wanted to be involved with basketball and as close to the court as he could without playing, leading to his decision to commit to coaching. He expressed his start off to becoming a coach, “things just took off, I love it. It helps that I was a player for so many years because I think it translates well with the type of player I was and the way I see things.” This led to him coaching middle school and highschool teams, which helped fulfill his life further, “it was such a big part of me, it’s impossible to get rid of.”
With Coach Howell being the new basketball coach, he’s creating a fresh start for our team, helping us recover from two disappointing seasons in a row. He strongly says that he isn’t going to promise anything like winning championships but he says that “I can say that the way that we will practice and play will be different than the past.” He has watched a lot of film of our basketball team over the years and says “we got talent, we got something to work with.” As he is still learning about the other schools and competitors with Green Hope, he is already preparing a game plan for our falcons. The work hard mind set is going to exemplify next season and hopefully show positive outcomes.
Howell continued with insight on the basketball community, “the communities support and love i’ve received over the past week and a half has been so crazy.” He continued, “it’s very interesting the love I’ve received from everybody, to me this is the biggest thing…the community has just welcomed me with open arms so to me it’s definitely lovely and heart warming.” Coach Howell is getting excited for his new career,“it’s definitely a beautiful,beautiful opportunity for me to have, and I thank Green Hope again for welcoming me and being so supportive of everything. I can tell everyone is ready to get locked in and ready to work, so I’m super super excited.”
