IUPUI head men’s basketball coach Todd Howard has been relieved of his position as head coach as announced by Director of Athletics Michael Moore on Sunday (Mar. 9) morning. Howard posted a 26-70 (.271) overall record during his three seasons at the helm of the program. The Louisville-native was in his 19th season on the IUPUI sidelines, having served 16 as assistant coach and associate head coach before being elevated to the head coaching position in April 2011.
"I would like to thank Todd for his dedicated service to the IUPUI Athletics Department and to our basketball program. He guided the program with great pride, effort and integrity," Moore said. "I certainly wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors."
Howard guided the 2011-12 squad to a 14-18 mark in his first season, but has since led the Jaguars to back-to-back six-win seasons following Saturday’s loss in The Summit League Tournament. His 2012-13 squad was beset by injuries while this year’s team missed top scorer Ian Chiles for seven games at the start of league play. IUPUI has exited in the first round of The Summit League Tournament in each of the past three seasons.
As an assistant, Howard helped elevate the program among the winningest in the state of Indiana, including the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 2003. He’s also credited with recruiting and developing some of the program’s top players, including Odell Bradley, Robert Glenn, Leroy Nobles, Alex Young and current Indiana Pacer standout George Hill.
All total, Howard coached 18 All-League, 13 All-Newcomer and three All-American players at IUPUI.
"I’m so thankful and grateful to everyone at IUPUI. It’s my favorite place in the world and I truly appreciate the support I’ve received," Howard said. "While I’m certainly disappointed and wish I was able to get more time, I’m extremely confident in knowing me and my staff gave our all.
"IUPUI is all I’ve known for 19-plus years and I know the hard work that has gone into building a league champion, an NCAA tournament team, an NBA draft pick and much more. In this era, we were just too young and too injured and that’s hard to overcome. I’ve helped guide hundreds of kids into becoming stellar men and my current team exemplifies this. Our GPA, our academic success and approach has never been higher."
In Howard’s three seasons as head coach, seven Jaguars have earned degrees and all four of this year’s seniors are on pace to graduate from the university. The academic standards and APR data have also improved in each of the past three years under Howard.
Moore announced that the university has begun a national search process to hire a new coach and will have no comment on the matter until the search is completed.
CarrSports Consulting, LLC is providing search counsel. Nominations and references should be sent to Bill Carr at: [email protected]. Applicants must apply by submitting a letter of application, resume and a list of 5 references electronically to: https://highereddecisions.com/csc/current_vacancies.asp.… No hardcopy documents will be accepted. To receive full consideration, candidates must submit all required initial documents plus any additional requested documents electronically by March 20, 2014.
