Ashley Howard is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. He was the head men's basketball coach at

La Salle University La Salle University () is a private, Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and named for St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. History La ...

, a position he held from 2018 to 2022. He was previously an assistant coach at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

Background

Howard's parents were

Maurice Howard Maurice Howard (b. 16 June 1948) is a British art historian, and was Professor of History of Art at the University of Sussex until his retirement in 2016. Howard has a bachelor's degree in history from Christ's College, Cambridge, followed by MA ...

and Diane Coleman, the former of who played

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, and was a second round draft choice of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in 1976. He also played for the New Orleans Jazz. According to Chris Mack, Xavier head coach, Howard has "been around the game his entire life. He is a tireless worker and will bring energy every single day to the practice floor. He's worked with countless pros even before he hit the college floor in a coaching capacity. It was very evident in talking to some of his former players that Ashley deeply impacts the players he coaches."

Education

Howard graduated from

Monsignor Bonner High School Monsignor Bonner High School was an all-male Augustinian Catholic High School in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It was located in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Bonner was created in 1953 as Archbishop Prendergast High School for Bo ...

. He graduated from

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

with a degree in communications in 2004.

Basketball career

Howard averaged 8.9 points and a team-high 4.9 assists per game with the Drexel Dragons. Howard was a guard for the team between 1999 and 2002, only stopping due to an injury. At that point he became a student assistant coach at Drexel University until 2003. He was co-director of the Eastern Invitational Basketball Camp. In 2004 he became head coach

John Giannini John Manfredo Giannini (born October 31, 1962) is an American college basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Rowan University from 1989 to 1996, the University of Maine from 1996 to 2004, and La Salle University from 2 ...

's assistant at La Salle Explorers. In 2006 he was an assistant coach of the Jamaica National team, accompanying the squad on its Olympic qualifying bid in Kingston. In 2008 he went back to Drexel as assistant coach to

Bruiser Flint James "Bruiser" Flint (born July 23, 1965) is an American men's college basketball coach, currently an assistant coach at Kentucky. He was most recently the head coach at Drexel University in west Philadelphia, where he was born and raised. Col ...

Villanova

Howard joined the Villanova basketball staff in June 2013 and has played a key role as the program has posted more than 140 victories, four Big East regular season titles and two NCAA national championships in that stretch. Villanova head coach Jay Wright said: "We're proud to have Ashley join our Villanova Basketball family. I have known Ashley since he was a high school player. He has deep roots in Philadelphia's basketball tradition and gained an appreciation for the Augustinian values during his days as a student at Monsignor Bonner High School. He will take great pride in representing Villanova." Howard earned two NCAA Division 1 men's basketball tournament titles with Villanova in 2016 and again in 2018.

La Salle

Howard was considered a top candidate for La Salle University's head coaching job. On April 8, 2018, La Salle announced him as the next head coach of the Explorers, succeeding his former boss

. During his first season, the Explorers finished 10–21. Howard guided the team to a 15–15 record in the 2019–20 season. Howard was fired in 2022 after an 11–19 season.

Personal life

Howard married Ariana Casanovas in August 2017. Howard's daughter, Journey, was born in 2014.

Head coaching record

References

External links

La Salle profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Ashley Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Philadelphia College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Drexel Dragons men's basketball players La Salle Explorers men's basketball coaches Point guards Villanova Wildcats men's basketball coaches Xavier Musketeers men's basketball coaches