Matt Howard (born January 23, 1989) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who last played for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

. Previously, he played

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 ...

with the

Butler Bulldogs The Butler Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent Butler University, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Bulldogs participate in 20 NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports. After leaving the Horizon League following the 2011–12 seas ...

. He helped lead the 2009–10 and

2010–11 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team The 2010–11 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Butler University in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Brad Stevens, serving his 4th year. The Bulldogs played their home games at the Hin ...

s to the championship game of the NCAA tournament. He is a three-time

Academic All-American The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

and the 2011 Men's Basketball Academic All-America of the Year as well as the 2009

Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Horizon League's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1979–80 season, the first year of the conference's existence. Six players ...

. He was a 2009 All-American honorable mention by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

. He was the 2010 and 2011 Horizon League men's basketball tournament MVP as well as a four-time

Horizon League men's basketball tournament The Horizon League men's basketball conference tournament is held annually at the end of the men's college basketball regular season. The tournament has been played each year since 1980. The winner of the tournament is designated the Horizon ...

All-Tournament selection. He won the 2011

Lou Henson Award The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by '' CollegeInsider.com'' to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for legendary Illinois Fighting Il ...

as well as the 2010 & 2011 Elite 88 Awards. He is the Horizon League record-holder for career

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

s made and attempted.

High school

The 6-8 Howard finished his high school career as the leading scorer and rebounder in Connersville history. As a senior in 2006-07, he averaged 23.6 points and 14.4 rebounds per game after averaging 19.1 points and 10.6 rebounds as a junior. He led the state of Indiana in rebounding as a high school senior in 2006–07 while playing for Connersville High School. Howard ranked second in the state in blocked shots as a junior. Howard is regarded as the first top-100 recruit in the history of Butler.

College career

As a freshman, Howard was the

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

newcomer of the year. That year, he was prominent in the 2007–08 Bulldogs's first round victory in the

2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball ...

over

South Alabama South Alabama is the various parts of southern Alabama. Although it is not a strictly defined geographic region, it generally includes all Alabama counties south of the Black Belt (region of Alabama), Black Belt. In that view, ''South Alabama'' co ...

. As a junior, he helped the 2009–10 Bulldogs make it to the championship game of the

2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2009–10 basketball seas ...

. In February of the

2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 8, 2010, with the preliminary games of the 2010 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, and ended with the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April ...

, Howard was hit by an elbow that caused extensive bleeding on his face. In the

2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament involving 68 teams to determine the national champion of the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The 73rd edition of the NCAA tournament bega ...

, he scored a tipin as time expired to give Butler a 60–58 victory over

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

in their second-round game. Then in the third round, he made the winning

with 0.8 seconds left to clinch a 71–70 victory over the number-one seeded

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

. Although Howard made only 5

three point shot A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two po ...

s in his first three seasons, as a senior he developed an outside shot, making over 40% on over 100 attempts. He earned Academic All-American selection in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and was named the 2011 Men's Basketball Academic All-America of the Year as well as the 2009 Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year. He was a 2009 All-American honorable mention by the Associated Press. By helping Butler earn consecutive trips to the final four, Howard earned consecutive Elite 88 Awards in 2010 and 2011. He was also one of ten finalists for the 2011 men's basketball Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. In 2010, he was chosen as "honorable mention" in a list of the smartest athletes in sports by '' Sporting News''. During the 2010 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament he earned the MVP Award. Then, during the 2011 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament he repeated as MVP and became the first person to become a four-time Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament All-Tournament selection. He won the 2011 Lou Henson Award as the mid-major player of the year. Howard was the 2007–8 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year. He was a second team All-Horizon League selection that year and first team selection the following three seasons. He was a Horizon League All-Defensive Team selection as a sophomore and a senior. He holds the Horizon League records for most

s made and attempted (both league only and all games). He led the Horizon League in

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the genera ...

as a sophomore with a 55.0 average.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Butler , 34 , , 25 , , 24.5 , , .583 , , .000 , , .780 , , 5.50 , , 0.85 , , 0.71 , , 1.09 , , 12.26 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Butler , 32 , , 32 , , 28.2 , , .550 , , .222 , , .773 , , 6.75 , , 1.12 , , 0.78 , , 1.50 , , 14.84 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Butler , 38 , , 38 , , 25.2 , , .479 , , .273 , , .784 , , 5.16 , , 0.79 , , 0.58 , , 0.61 , , 11.50 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, style="text-align:left;", Butler , 37 , , 37 , , 31.0 , , .471 , , .398 , , .792 , , 7.76 , , 1.43 , , 1.14 , , 0.62 , , 16.43 Source

/small>

Professional career

On July 28, 2011, Howard signed with Olympiacos B.C., Olympiacos of the Greek League. In February 2012, Howard was released by Olympiacos and signed with

EnBW Ludwigsburg Riesen Ludwigsburg ( en, Giants Ludwigsburg), for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the first tier of ...

of the Basketball Bundesliga. In July 2012, Howard was named to the Phoenix Suns roster for the 2012 Las Vegas Summer League, and joined Chorale Roanne Basket for the 2012–13 Pro A season. The team is based out of

Roanne Roanne (; frp, Rouana; oc, Roana) is a commune in the Loire department, central France. It is located northwest of Lyon on the river Loire. It has an important Museum, the ''Musée des Beaux-arts et d'Archéologie Joseph-Déchelette'' (Fre ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. In June 2013, Howard signed with

ratiopharm Ulm Ratiopharm Ulm, officially stylized as ratiopharm Ulm, is a professional basketball club based in Ulm, Germany. The club has two teams, one professional team, which plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the major German professional league and one ...

of the German Basketball Bundesliga. On July 7, 2014, he signed with Strasbourg IG of the French LNB Pro A for the 2014–15 season. On July 9, 2015, he signed a two-year contract extension with Strasbourg. On August 1, 2017, Howard signed with the Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv for the 2017–18 season. On April 2, 2018, Howard recorded a season-high 20 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, along with six rebounds in 85–80 win over

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. Howard helped Hapoel to reach the 2018 Israeli League Final Four.

Playing style and personality

In a story immediately before the 2011 Final Four,

Rick Reilly Richard Paul Reilly (born February 3, 1958) is an American sportswriter. Long known for being the "back page" columnist for ''Sports Illustrated'', Reilly moved to ESPN on June 1, 2008, where he was a featured columnist for ESPN.com and wrote t ...

noted that Howard "looks more like a geeky band-camp RA than a possible NBA first rounder", but added: He is also known for eccentricities both on and off the court. Howard's teammate

Shelvin Mack Shelvin Bernard Mack Jr. (born April 22, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player who is an analyst for CBS Sports. He played college basketball for the Butler Bulldogs. High school career Mack attended Bryan Station High Scho ...

told Reilly that Howard had six pairs of new shoes in his locker, but refused to wear them, preferring to stay with what Mack described as "ratty old ones". Howard also habitually rode a rusted-out bicycle to Butler's 6:00 am practices, regardless of the weather; during one 2011 ice storm, the handlebars bent under him while he was riding, causing him to fall onto the ice. He would say about this incident, "I fixed it. Just poured some WD-40 in there and bent them back. It's a little risky to ride, I guess, but I can't see buying a new one." He also has a habit of

spoonerism A spoonerism is an occurrence in speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words in a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and ordained minister William Archibald Spooner, w ...

with people's names; for example, he routinely calls Mack "Melvin Shack".

Notes

References

External links

Euroleague.net ProfileFrench League profileGreek Basket League ProfileEurobasket.com Profile
from

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Matt 1989 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Butler Bulldogs men's basketball players Chorale Roanne Basket players Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Riesen Ludwigsburg players Olympiacos B.C. players People from Carmel, Indiana People from Connersville, Indiana Power forwards (basketball) Ratiopharm Ulm players SIG Basket players