Howard continues to blaze trails

May 19—PLAINFIELD, Ill. — After five years away from coaching, Jeff Howard has received the call he longed for.

The former Madison Heights and Anderson University basketball star and one-time coach at Anderson High School and Highland is returning to the sideline as head coach at Plainfield South in Plainfield, Illinois.

And, as he was at Anderson High School, Muncie South and Ashton-Frankton High School in Illinois, Howard will be the first African-American boys basketball coach at the largest of four high schools in Plainfield.

"The one thing with coming home was being able to do things that hadn't been done before," Howard said. "You want to try to leave some mark on this world. Being the first African-American to win that (Madison) County tournament (2009), the first African-American in the history of Delaware County and Muncie, that's a pioneer. That's leaving your mark, to me."

Howard's name surged to the top of a list of 30 candidates almost immediately, according to Plainfield South athletic director Chet Lines. He said Howard's background of leadership and youth development — both in and out of high school sports — checked all the boxes.

"We felt right away that he would be a good fit here with our staff and with our students, and he reflected a lot of the things we were looking for," Lines said. "He's student-athlete centered. He's a well-rounded individual. Not necessarily everything is about winning. He does have a pedigree there with his experience, but you can tell he is all about the students."

The Plainfield South Cougars are coming off a 5-24 season and play in a challenging conference.

"It's in a very, very tough conference with some really tough teams (like) Romeoville, Bowling Brook, and there's an Oswego East team that went 33-1 last year in the same conference" Howard said. "I've got my work cut out. There's no question about that."

Howard recently completed an education program at Ball State, removing one barrier to returning to coaching high school basketball. At Plainfield South, he will also assume one of five positions of Dean of Students, a dual-role that appealed to Howard.

"What made Plainfield attractive was it had a Dean of Students position, and I had just finished my administrative license at Ball State," he said. "I coached in Illinois before I came back home, so I'm very familiar with the area and the state."

Howard coached four seasons of Indiana high school basketball, accumulating a 27-61 record at Highland, Muncie South and Anderson. He has coached collegiately in Minnesota and at Ashton-Frankton High School in Illinois, a tenure that lasted from 2001-05. He is still ranked sixth at AU in scoring with 1,615 career points.

"I want to thank everyone that gave me an opportunity when I came home," Howard said. "It was 17 years that had its ups and it had its downs, but I think in coming home, I was able to make peace with some things and with some people."

He is in Illinois this week to meet the players and parents.

Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.