WS Chronicle

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is on the hunt for a new basketball coach. WSSU will part ways with head coach James Wilhelmi on May 31. The school is on a national search for a new coach but I don’t feel they have to go that far. The best choice for the position may already be in town and that coach is former NBA All-Star Josh Howard.

Wilhelmi was the Rams coach for the past four seasons, with a 47-63 combined record during that span. His first year was his most successful, leading his team to the CIAA championship game. He could not match that success going forward, finishing with a 5-22 record his last season.

Howard makes a lot of sense if you stop to think about it. Granted he has not been in the coaching ranks for very long but learned from some of the best in the business in Skip Prosser, his former college coach at Wake Forest; and Don Nelson, Avery Johnson and Rick Carlisle, his coaches with the Dallas Mavericks.

I am not even sure Howard has shown any interest in the position at WSSU. He is currently the head coach of the basketball team at Piedmont International University. Although he only has two years of head coaching experience his time in the NBA more than makes up for that.

The partnership of Howard and WSSU would be mutally beneficial for both sides. It will allow Howard to show what he has in a highly competitive conference while also bringing name recognition to the school, especially since he is a home grown product.

In my opinon Howard would be able to bring in a higher level of recruit to the school due to him knowing the best path for his athletes to potentially make it to the next level. We all know HBCUs don’t have the recruiting budget like the Carolinas or Dukes of the world, so Howard’s name would shrink the map, so to speak.

Another reason to bring Howard on board is I feel the players would immediately buy in to whatever system he implements on offense or defense. A coach that has played the game on the highest level demands a certain respect without him having to utter one sentence.

Winston-Salem and Forsyth County as a whole have produced some tremendous talent in the sport of basketball over the years, but have not been able to keep most of them in town aside from Chris Paul, Howard and a few others.

With Howard at the helm, I think WSSU would have the chance to not only keep some of that talent in the city but he may convince them to choose an HBCU. I’m sure there are other candidates that are well qualified for the position but I feel WSSU would be best served by hiring Howard.

WSSU has a storied history when it comes to their basketball program, with legendary names like Earl “The Pearl” Monore and Clearence “Big House” Gaines. Howard would be another name on that list because I feel he would bring the program back to prominence.