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| School Name: | Howard University |
| Location: | Washington, DC |
| Arena: | Burr Gymnasium |
| Capacity: | 2,700 |
| Conference: | MEAC |
| Head coach: | Kevin Nickelberry |
Howard University is a university located in Washington, D.C., USA. A historically black university and widely considered to be the most prestigious. Howard was established in 1867 by congressional order and named for Oliver O. Howard. Notable alumni include Andrew Young, Donny Hathaway, Edward Brooke, Debbie Allen, Claude Brown, Stokeley Carmichael, Ossie Davis, Roberta Flack, Shaka Hislop, Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison, Phylicia Rashad and Richard Smallwood. Howard University is the number one producer of African American Ph.D.s in the United States.
Men's Basketball[]
Howard's basketball history can be traced back the season of 1907-08, when the Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association (ISAA) of Middle Atlantic States launched its first basketball season. The competing teams that year were, besides Howard, M Street High, Armstrong Technical High, Howard Academy, Howard Medical, Oberlin Athletic Club, Crescent Athletic Club, and LeDroit Park.
Howard University soon faded out of the ISAA to be replaced by the 12th Street YMCA team, which became a powerful presence in teh ISAA using mostly players from Howard University. The revival of Howard University in basketball stemmed from the 12th Street YMCA team and Colored Basketball World's Champions of 1909-10.
The YMCA team had consisted mainly of Howard students, and began playing as the Howard University team in the 1910-11 season, and repeated as world's champions. Four of the five Howard players had been members of the YMCA team. The team ended the season with an intercity win over Alpha Physical Culture Club, 28-16, in DC.
The team in 1911-12 lost only two games, one to Hampton Institute and the other to the Monticello Athletic Association of Pittsburgh. For a detailed account of this team, read Hot Potato: The Birth of Black Basketball.
In 1912, Howard was lured to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to play the newly formed Monticello Athletic Club, led by a dangerous long-range shooter, Cumberland Posey. Howard was again considered the top team and was thought to be cruising to its next Colored championship. In the March 8 game, the Pittsburgh team pulled a stunt that bewildered the Howard team, insisting after the first half was played under collegiate rules that the second half be played under YMCA rules, which allowed for less dribbling. Howard consented, seeing that each team should have a half under their familiar rules, and lost the game 24-19. Based on this victory, Monticello Athletic Club was deemed the Colored Basketball World’s Champion of 1912.
The following year, Howard met Monticello again, in New York at Manhattan Casino, on March 13. Howard, with the tall George Gilmore guarding five-foot-ten Posey, nullified Posey’s long-range shooting, and the university cruised to a 33-15 win earning for a second time in three years, the Colored Basketball World’s title.
Howard University was one of the founding members of the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association, along with Hampton Institute, Lincoln University, Shaw University, and Virginia Union University. They came together in February of 1912. Howard was named Colored Basketball World's co-champion again in 1912-13.
External Links[]
- Official athletics site
- Howard University on Wikipedia
This school's seal.