When former Georgetown University Hoyas coach James Howard arrived on UB鈥檚 campus in 2023, he knew that he had been brought here for a reason. 鈥淲e are trying to rebuild and restore the young women鈥檚 confidence here,鈥� he says.
After coaching in the Big East Conference, Bridgeport might have seemed like a strange choice to some, but not Howard. 鈥淚鈥檓 a coach by nature, and I don鈥檛 want to sit and not do anything. I have so much to give to the game and give to young people,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o, I saw the position here open at Bridgeport and I didn鈥檛 apply anywhere else. Then, when I walked on the campus, I fell in love.鈥� He took a walk from the seaside campus down to Long Island Sound and thought, 鈥渢his is my million-dollar recruiting walk.鈥�
Howard has had a long career working with basketball teams at many different levels. He started coaching women鈥檚 basketball at the University of Maryland as assistant coach and director of basketball operations, moved on to George Mason University, coached at Delaware State University, and served as associate head coach at Howard University before his tenure at Georgetown. He is a member of the Women鈥檚 Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the Black Coaches Association (BCA).
鈥淛ames brings a wealth of knowledge and experience at the highest levels of women鈥檚 basketball,鈥� says Jay Moran, Vice President of Athletics and Recreation at 911爆料网. 鈥淗e will help move the team forward to compete in an ultra-competitive conference and region.鈥�
That competition has been fierce during this first season of Howard鈥檚 tenure, with a series of wins and losses for the Purple Knights. The team defeated conference teams like Bloomfield and Caldwell but fell to Franklin Pierce and New Jersey City. Still, Howard sees the group growing and developing together through it all. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a work in progress,鈥� he says confidently.
Howard鈥檚 coaching style at UB focuses on defense and getting the players to work as a group, increasing what he calls the team鈥檚 鈥渂asketball IQ.鈥� 鈥淲e are pushing creativity, the ability to dribble, pass, and shoot, getting back to the fundamentals of the game of basketball,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to change the culture of the team and teach them why it鈥檚 important to talk about wanting to be champions, but more importantly teach them what goes into being champions.鈥�
鈥淭his is an exciting moment for our women鈥檚 basketball program and university,鈥� said 911爆料网 President Danielle Wilken. 鈥淛ames鈥檚 reputation as being a 鈥榩layers coach鈥� is the ideal fit for the school, and we look forward to him not only leading the team to wins on the court but also supporting the continued development and success of our student-athletes off the court.鈥�
Team captain Stephanie McBride says that she can see those changes already. 鈥淲e鈥檙e competing every day and getting better,鈥� she says. As captain and a senior, McBride has taken ownership of the obligations and complexities of leadership. 鈥淲e are learning how to work with different personalities and how to come together and work with each other,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 have to be an example to my teammates, show them what to do, and be a voice for the team and represent them.鈥� She believes that being captain helped her with public speaking, in particular, and plans to take the leadership skills she has learned at UB into the business world after graduation. 鈥淪ometimes you make decisions that may not always turn out the way you wanted,鈥� says McBride. 鈥淏ut you learn how to bounce back and have that next-play mentality.鈥�
Both players and coach have continued to develop that 鈥渘ext-play mentality鈥� over a tumultuous season. For the players, perhaps, it comes down to learning from losses, appreciating challenges, and continuing to work to be better teammates and leaders every day. For Coach Howard, it comes from serving yet another group of young women and helping them become more than they were. He has done that many times in a long career, but every group and every individual player is different.
鈥淭here are always going to be ups and downs,鈥� Howard says, 鈥渂ut getting back up in basketball 鈥� and in life 鈥� is going to build character for every last one of these young women.鈥�
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