We are 5 weeks away from the tip-off of the new college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with new Troy coach Adam Howard, who talked about being hired last March and his expectations for this season.
You played basketball at Western Kentucky, where you made the 2008 Sweet 16: what was it like to face a #1-seed in UCLA that had 4 future NBA players on the roster? It was cool. We did not know it at the time, but we had 2 future NBA players of our own in Jeremy Evans/Courtney Lee. It got tight there for a minute and if we made a 3 then it might have ended up as a different ballgame, but it was still a lot of fun.
How did you 1st get into coaching? It was the path that I always wanted to take. I grew up in a small town in Kentucky (a state that loves its basketball) and always wanted to make my high school coach proud as his PG. I walked onto the team at WKU and played for Darrin Horn. After graduating I did whatever I could to get my foot in the door as a D-1 coach.
You spent the past 15 years as an assistant coach at 7 different schools: was that your preferred journey or is that just the “nature of the beast” when you are an assistant? I am proud of my journey as a mid-major guy who got to work his way up the ladder and eventually got hired by great head coaches like Fred Hoiberg/Will Wade. I would not change anything: I had some adversity but continued to grow at each stop…although now that I have a family I hope we can stay here for a while.
You were previously assistant at Troy from 2016-2018, and your team posted the highest GPA among Sun Belt programs in both seasons: how much importance do you place on academics? It is very important. Once the ball stops bouncing it is important to have your degree, so 1 of our team’s responsibilities is to be a good student-athlete and represent us in the right manner. We must handle our business both on/off the court.
Last year as an assistant to Will Wade at NC State your team was #9 in the nation with 38.8 3P%: how crucial is the 3-PT shot to your offensive strategy? Some of the best teams that I have been a part of featured guys who could shoot the ball very well. It was a big reason that we were able to reach the NCAA tourney last year: you cannot have enough good shooting, and we work on it every day.
You were hired at Troy last March: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? I took the job because it is a good job! I got to start my career at a place like Troy. We are part of a very competitive league, and I did not have a lot of other options, so I am glad that they chose me. I will do everything I can to put our program in position to stay at the level it is at. There has been a ton of turnover but the previous success over the past few years allowed us to get a good roster. These jobs are very hard to get, and it is a very attractive job.
You take over a program that has won 20+ games for 5 straight seasons: where do you draw the line between putting your own system into place vs. “ain’t broke/don’t fix”? We were able to keep some good players who will also help us in the locker room. We are not just waiting to get the program off the ground: we hope to win 20+ games and make the NCAA tourney. If things go our way, then we will have a chance to win a championship in our 1-bid league. We must work accordingly and have a chip on our shoulder, but I am fortunate to be at a place that has an expectation of winning.
Your roster includes players from Brazil/Finland/France/Ireland/Japan: what sort of recruiting philosophy/budget do you have? We do not really care where players are from: if they can help us win, then we will take them. We had relationships/connections with several of them and people thought they could come here to help us. They all came here to get on the floor and get off to a good start. We brought in 13 news guys who should help keep us in the top half of our league.
You have a game in Raleigh this November on Friday the 13th: is it just another game on your schedule or is it going to feel weird? It will be cool after building some very good relationships. My wife/kids will make the trip because we still have several friends in the area, and it will be a good way for us to measure where we were at. I still have some good friends on their staff, but we will try to treat it just like any other game.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We want to be a team that is not shy about what we want to do: we want to cut down some nets and get to the NCAA tourney. I know that I am a 1st-year head coach, but we have several transfers who want a bigger role so we will work in a manner that allows us to get back to the NCAA tourney while getting better each day (and hopefully stay healthy).
