Johnson's Journal - Adam Howard: Inside the Journey to Troy

By: Jon Johnson

New Troy men's basketball coach Adam Howard was inspired by his father, Rick, to set high goals and follow his dreams.

"Growing up in Eastern Kentucky, a lot of people either worked at the oil refinery or steel mill," Howard said. "Seeing my dad work with his hands (at Ashland Oil & Refinery Company) for over 30 years and work with tools is something I always admired.

"I didn't necessarily want that for my life, so he pushed me to chase some opportunities and have some big dreams."

Howard's father helped however he could.

"We spent a lot of time together on weekends taking trips to play games," Howard said of his father. "He would wake up early, go to work and then come home and spend time with me at the YMCA to work on my game."

Like many growing up in the basketball-rich state of Kentucky, Howard loved the sport. He was a star point guard at Paul G. Blazer High School in Ashland, Ky., and scored 831 career points before graduating in 2004.

"I played for a guy named Mike Flynn, who was a very successful high school coach in the state of Kentucky," Howard said. "My relationship with him is probably what led me to want to coach. I knew I wanted to be around the game as long as I possibly could."

Instead of pursuing small college basketball scholarship opportunities, Howard decided to walk on for coach Darrin Horn at Western Kentucky University, mainly hoping it would be a gateway to coaching.

"I knew I was going to be a part of a (WKU) program that had a head coach that had worked with Tom Crean at Marquette and was really successful in his own right in Darrin Horn, who went on to be the head coach at South Carolina and now the head coach at Northern Kentucky," Howard said.

"I just wanted to get a network of coaches that were really successful that I could see early in my career and kind of attach myself to a program like that, which could allow me to potentially get into the business."

After being a four-year letterwinner on the court at Western Kentucky, Howard got his first coaching chance as a graduate assistant at Morehead (Ky.) State University (2009-2010) and then was elevated to assistant coach (2010-2012).

Next, he made stops as an assistant at Southern Miss (2012-2014), Tennessee (2014), Troy (2016-2018), South Alabama (2018-2022), Nebraska (2022-2025) and N.C. State (2025-2026).

Getting a chance at Troy

When Scott Cross left Troy after seven seasons following two straight Sun Belt Conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances to take over as head coach at Georgia Tech, Howard would get his first opportunity as a head coach in being hired on March 29, 2026, to lead the Trojans.

"The small town atmosphere was kind of what my wife and I were looking at for our family - raising our kids in a place where the community kind of wraps their arms around their own," Howard said. "I had been here and made it to the NCAA Tournament (2017) as an assistant and you see the success Coach Cross and his staff had here.

"When you're looking at opportunities to become a head coach, you want to do it at places where there's been success and it's a good job. Troy certainly checks all those boxes for anyone."

It's been a hectic few months for Howard in leaving N.C. State and immediately getting to work to put a staff and roster together at Troy.

"It was a complete whirlwind," Howard said. "The boss I had just finished working for (Will Wade) was in a transition in taking another job (at LSU) and then this opportunity came about, so a lot of things were happening all at once."

The familiarity of having worked at Troy before has been beneficial.

"It's been great to be back and just reconnecting with a lot of folks that I had relationships with when I was here as an assistant," Howard said. "Every day is a challenge in terms of building a roster, getting your staff in place and taking your time to make sure you get it right.

"We've got some progress that we've made and we've got some things that we've got to get done here pretty quickly towards the end of this process as well. But I feel good where we're at and excited about the future. Just trying to take our time to make sure we get the right guys."

Style of play

Howard has a reputation of being one of the top offensive minds on the college level. This past season under the offensive direction of Howard, N.C. State ranked ninth nationally in 3-point percentage (38.8), 28th in 3-pointers per game (10.2) and 29th in scoring (83.2) on the way to a 20-14 record and NCAA Tournament appearance.

"Some things we did at N.C. State and Nebraska we may not be able to do here depending on personnel, but one thing we can do every night when we put on that Troy uniform is be the hardest playing, toughest team on the floor and give ourselves a chance to compete night-in and night-out to win games," Howard said.

"Just respect the game in a way that no matter what's going on … whether we win three in a row or we lose three in a row … that we're going to be the same consistent team and compete every single night."

While Howard is well-known for leading successful offenses, by no means does he put any less emphasis on defense.

"I've done it a lot of different ways in terms of whether we press back to a zone, or whether we play halfcourt man-to-man where our pickup point is back at the 3-point line," Howard said of the defensive style. "But leaning towards being more of a man-to-man group that will make it hard for teams to run their sets and try to make teams play isolation basketball and make them settle for tough shots. Be a gritty team that makes a team have to work for shots for 40 minutes."

Importance of family

Howard learned at an early age the importance of family, no matter the situation.

"With my dad working a lot, my mom (Christy) was getting three kids to where they needed to be, so I'm a family person," Howard said. "It's the most important thing to me.

"I don't have any other hobbies. When I have a chance to have a weekend away, or get to the ballpark to support my kids, that's where I'm going to be."

With coaching being so time consuming, Howard is appreciative of the sacrifices his wife, Renee, and children Eli (9), Emma (7) and Easton (4) make.

"This will be my kid's third school in two years, essentially," Howard said of moving to Troy. "It's not something they signed up for, but as a family we make sacrifices together, but they make the most.

"My wife holds it all together. This is the fourth or fifth move we've made since we've been married and every year it looks a little different because we've added three children."

He knows things will be easier once the family gets settled into their new home.

"Having a chance to be in a town like Troy where it takes you 10 minutes to get anywhere versus a place like Raleigh (N.C.) where baseball is at 5:30 … 30 minutes away … and dance is at 6, and trying to figure it all out," Howard said of his kid's activities. "We're excited to get our journey started here in Troy."

On and off the basketball court.

Troy University Athletics

Johnson's Journal - Adam Howard: Inside the Journey to Troy

Related News

Related Videos