Inside College Basketball

Wizard of Wake Forest  

The inspired play of Josh Howard has the Demon Deacons bedeviling the ACC

By Seth Davis

Wake Forest's leafy campus in Winston-Salem, N.C., is only a few miles from where Josh Howard, the Demon Deacons' 6'6" senior swingman, grew up, but to Howard it used to feel like a different world. Though he started all but two games in his first season, 1999-2000, Howard was painfully shy and spent most of his free time back home. "I didn't know how to act at first, but in the 3 1/2 years I've been at Wake, I've become more comfortable and a lot less quiet," Howard says. "I feel like I have the best of both worlds now."

Howard has come out of his shell to become a leader and the top player in the ACC. Chuck Burton/AP

It helps that Howard is playing so well that he's emerged as a favorite for ACC player of the year, while also giving No. 10 Wake Forest (17-4, 7-3 in the ACC at week's end) a shot at its first outright league title since 1962. After scoring 20 points in a 90-67 loss to Maryland on Monday, Howard led the ACC in scoring (18.9 points per game) and was third in rebounding (8.0), blocks (1.62) and steals (2.10). He's also Wake's most reliable stopper on defense. "Josh is the best player in our league," says Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "He's a beautiful player to watch on both ends of the court."

Lightly recruited despite averaging 26 points a game as a senior at Winston-Salem's Glenn High, Howard spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., to improve his academic performance. His play and personality were so understated, however, that Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser has no recollection of ever having seen him there, even though Prosser, who previously coached Xavier, attended several Hargrave Academy games while recruiting Howard's Hargrave teammate David West.

Having coached Howard for a season, Prosser last spring challenged him to work harder and pleaded with him to become a more vocal leader. Howard then spent countless hours working on his shooting over the summer. The work has paid off, as Howard's three-point and free throw shooting percentages have risen significantly since last season. He's also providing the leadership Prosser requested, through both his words and deeds; for instance on Feb. 2 he sank the game-winning basket with 21.4 seconds remaining and finished with a career-high 32 points in a 79-75 win at North Carolina. "Josh really imbues our other players with a high level of courage," Prosser says. "He's never afraid or intimidated out there."

Issue date: February 24, 2003

For more Inside College Basketball see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, February 19. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

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