Recruiting Report: Garrison Howell (2016)
SPRINGFIELD — Few players have seen their game progress more during the course of their high school career than Catholic senior guard Garrison Howell. Despite not having played a varsity game prior to his senior season, Howell parlayed a strong…
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Continue ReadingSPRINGFIELD — Few players have seen their game progress more during the course of their high school career than Catholic senior guard Garrison Howell.
Despite not having played a varsity game prior to his senior season, Howell parlayed a strong summer with Nixa-based Yanders Law into an NCAA Division II scholarship at Rockhurst University.
“Playing with Coach Rob and with Yanders Law for three years has changed me as a player,” Howell said. “I’ve came a long way from an average freshman, to a senior with the opportunity to play at the next level.
“There is no one better than Rob when it comes to getting everything out of his players. Playing with Yanders Law in the summer has allowed me to play against the best competition available and develop as a player on offense and defense. This year I am a much improved defensive player, along with making improvements offensively to be able to do more than just hurt people with my range. I accredit a great deal of my success on and off the court to Coach Rob and his program.”
A standout perimeter shooter with a quick release, Howell figures to lead a much-improved Catholic team this year as the Irish will blend a mix of young up-and-coming players with Howell.
“My expectations this year at Catholic are that we will be a lot more than what people expect,” Howell said. “There is a very good chance that only one player from the starting five in game one will have played a minute of varsity basketball, myself being included with the newbies due to the 365 transfer rule.”
Howell did not play last season as he sat out after transferring to Catholic from Kickapoo prior to his junior season. He was a junior varsity player at Kickapoo as a sophomore and as a result of missing his entire junior season, had not played a varsity game prior to this season.
However, Howell hit the court running this season, putting up better than 20 points several times already.
“We have several players who have played basketball at a very high level in AAU ball,” Howell said. “We are a skilled group with lots of people who can handle the ball, and a couple deadly shooters to stretch the floor. We should get better throughout the year as our younger players mature and I believe come the end of the season we will be ready to compete for a district title.
“My role playing with this young team will be to set an example of how to work hard everyday. Playing for Rob (Yanders), this is all I know. We can’t take days off. If the leaders of a team take everyday seriously, so will the whole team.
“I will be a big part of our offense by putting the ball in the hole and by facilitating for others. I think defenses will have to guard me very closely on the 3-point line so that will give me opportunities to drive and score as well as finding my teammates. I have to set the tone for how we play on both ends of the floor.”