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Last updated on Thursday, July 19, 2012
(WASHINGTON) - After a 3-20 record in the 2011-12 boys basketball season, Washington Catholic High School will welcome a familiar face back into the fold.
Dennis Glade of the Washington Times-Herald reports that John Howell, who coached the Cardinals from 1999-2003, is back for another crack at it and will also serve as Athletic Director of the school.
Howell, who has also coached at Knightstown and New Washington, served as an assistant coach at Greenfield Central the last two seasons. Howell complied a record of 34-32 in his last three seasons as the head coach at Knightstown from 2007-2010.
"Right now it's a very good fit for my family and myself, my wife is from Washington and for right now where we are, this is a very good fit for us," Howell said. "There is a lot of great basketball in this area, I think it's the best area for basketball in the state and the tradition down this way is just awesome for basketball."
Howell has not seen any game tape from last year's team or met with the team as of yet, but goals are the same that they have been at his previous head coaching stops, defense first.
"I think you have to be able to stop people to win some games, you're not always going to be able to outscore people and defense in my opinion wins a lot of basketball games."
For Howell, one of the most pressing needs as he gets started is the tall task of becoming competitive with the other high schools in Daviess County.
"I feel we need to get back to some basics throughout the entire program, not just with the high school level," Howell said. "We need to try to get more boys interested and build from the bottom up."
With the experience that he has gained since leaving Washington Catholic, Howell is hopeful that he will be able to win more games this time around.
"I think that after all this experience that I have had that I'm a little better coach than I was the first time, this was my first head coaching job," Howell said.
After nine years away, Howell said it feels great to be back in Washington in a place that he feels does things the right way.
"Coming here, I like it. There are great families here, great tradition and it feels like you are developing the whole person and that's something that really appealed to us," Howell said.
Howell would not say what he expected in terms of wins from his team next season, but he does expect effort from every member of the Cardinals.
"We need to make sure we are giving all-out effort when we step on the floor, whether it be a kid that plays 16 minutes or a kid that plays 2 minutes," Howell said. "I want everybody to be able to play their role and give everything they have when they step between the lines."
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