Column: Senior walk-on Jeff Howard stands out with hustle and hair

When IU fans think of Jeff Howard, the two things that come to mind are hustle and hair — and not always in that order.

Howard will be one of the four seniors recognized tonight when IU (17-12, 7-9) welcomes red-hot Nebraska (17-11, 9-7) to Assembly Hall for senior night.

The 6-foot-8 forward from Westfield, Ind., doesn’t see his name in the headlines often.

Howard has been a walk-on all four years at IU. But it was only the summer before last season he decided to make a significant change in his life.

He was going to get a haircut. An ultra cool new haircut.

His roommate, Will Sheehey, urged Howard to do something out of the box.

“Will brought me to a guy he knew and he pretty much told me he wanted to go flat-top. I was like, ‘OK, whatever,’” Howard said. “I liked it. And everybody else seemed to like it, too. They thought it was funny.”

Fans loved it. News media members loved it. The only person who seems to be opposed is his high school coach at Westfield, Eric Rauch.

“I told him he’s got to cut it,” Rauch said while laughing.

This was the only bad thing Rauch had to say about his former star, who averaged 17 points and 13 rebounds during his senior year at Westfield.

Here’s the thing about Jeff Howard: he’s one of the good guys.

When he’s on the floor, he gives everything he’s got. Or when he’s in a classroom at the Kelley School of Business — he’s majoring in Finance and Operations Management — he gives his all.

The past two seasons, Howard has been named an academic All-Big Ten selection. In high school, he boasted a 4.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale and was top 10 in his class of more than 400 students.

“He is absolutely the perfect role model,” Rauch said.

Rauch said his 7-year-old son looks at Howard as his idol. It’s not because Howard plays basketball. It’s not because he plays at IU. It’s because Jeff Howard is a real, genuine person.

“Every time my son saw Jeff, (Howard) said ‘Hi, how are you doing?’” Rauch said. “And that’s how he was with all the little kids.”

Rauch knew Howard was a special player one weekend in January 2010. Westfield beat rival Fishers in a six-overtime battle. Not long after, Westfield defeated Broad Ripple in double-overtime.

Howard was magnificent. In the two games he combined for 42 points and 36 rebounds, according to the  Indy Star.

“It was the first time we had seen a level of toughness that we knew he could,” Rauch said.

Howard opted to come to Bloomington to be a four-year walk on — no, he did not take Luke Fischer’s scholarship, which is a common misconcepception, Howard said — even though he had offers from Ball State, Eastern Kentucky and Army to have a more prolific role.

“I obviously knew I wasn’t going to play as much,” Howard said. “But I wanted to come to a school like IU with such great tradition.”

During these four years Howard became known for his defense and relentlessness. He’s seen continually diving for loose balls, never giving up. The effort earned the walk-on his first career start earlier this season against Evansville.

After the game, IU Coach Tom Crean said Howard got the start because he “was a guy that epitomized what we wanted out there in the form of energy, communication and intensity.”

There are many things Howard can’t do on the court. But he has always given IU
his all.

And, he said, he can shoot. Rauch attested to Howard’s 3-point shot, but that was
never Howard’s role at IU.

Howard doesn’t have any regrets about his time in Bloomington — except he never got to jack it up from downtown.

“I’ve always said I’m going to shoot a three by the time I’m out of here,” Howard said while laughing. “Maybe that’s one of the things I’ll wish I would have done.”
He added with a smile, “And I should have got my haircut sooner.”