In another edition of Pack Look Back, let’s take a look back on the career of former NC State men’s basketball forward Richard Howell, one of NC State’s best big men in the last 10 years.
Howell is from Marietta, Georgia, where he went to Wheeler High School, the same high school that former NC State and NBA player J.J. Hickson went. A four-star recruit coming out of high school, Howell committed to NC State in 2008 and would begin his career in Raleigh in the 2009-10 season, under then-head coach Sidney Lowe.
As a freshman, Howell came off the bench to average 4.9 points per game. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the season for him came when NC State played at South Florida in the first round of the NIT. Howell hit a game-winning layup with eight seconds left to give the Pack a 58-57 win and send the team to the next round of the tournament. The Pack would lose in the next round to UAB.
As a sophomore, Howell increased his production, averaging 7.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The Pack would miss out on any postseason action that year after posting a 15-16 overall record and a 5-11 conference record in what would be Lowe’s last season as head coach.
Howell continued to increase his production as a junior, averaging 10.8 points per game and finishing third in the ACC in rebounding with 9.2 rebounds per game in NC State’s first year under new head coach Mark Gottfried. That year, NC State made it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006.
One of Howell’s best performances of the year came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, when the 11-seeded NC State took on the No. 6 seed San Diego State. Howell dominated with 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field as the Pack upset San Diego State 79-65. In the next round, NC State upset the No. 3 seed Georgetown to advance to its first Sweet 16 since 2005. The Pack lost to the No. 2-seeded Kansas in the Sweet 16.
Coming off a Sweet 16 run, NC State came into the following season with a lot of hype. The Pack was ranked No. 6 in the preseason top-25 and was picked to finish first in the ACC preseason poll. Forward C.J. Leslie was picked as the preseason ACC Player of the Year, and both Leslie and guard Lorenzo Brown were picked to the preseason all-conference team, but it was Howell that would end up being selected to the All-ACC First Team at the end of the season.
Howell capped off his career at NC State with a highly productive season, averaging a double-double with 12.7 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game. Some of his best performances of the year came when he scored 16 points and grabbed an outrageous 18 rebounds as NC State knocked off then-No. 1 Duke, and also when he put up 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a win over UNC. NC State ultimately couldn’t live up to expectations that year, entering the NCAA Tournament as an eighth seed and getting bounced in the first round by the No. 9-seeded Temple.
Howell’s legacy at NC State is one of hard work. At 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, Howell wasn’t the tallest or the fastest player on the floor, but nobody on the floor worked harder than he did; his rebounding stats alone will tell you that. Howell worked hard and improved each year that he was at NC State until he became one of the most productive players in the ACC and was named First Team All-ACC at the end of his senior year.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a game when Howell wasn’t drenched with sweat, which is a testament to how hard he worked. If not for his iconic power dribble that he had to do every time he got the ball in the post, he probably could have averaged a few more points per game.
Another lasting legacy that Howell has is one of service. Before his senior season, Howell and one of his friends created a shirt that said “Beard Gang” on the front. The idea was originally just for fun, but Howell then thought of his sister, who had died in a car crash years earlier, and decided to donate the funds from his shirt sales to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He raised thousands of dollars.
From his hard work on the court to his service off the court, Howell is truly one of the most likeable NC State basketball players in recent history. Since graduating from NC State, Howell has jumped around playing for professional teams overseas and is currently playing for the Israeli team Hapoel Holon.
There’s a quote that says “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” and Howell is the embodiment of that quote. While he may not have been the tallest, the most athletic, the best shooter or the most talented, nobody worked harder than Howell, and he was the best player on the court many times because of that. Howell gave everything he had to NC State, and for that, he will be long remembered.
