Marquette star guard Howard holds court
Marquette sophomore guard Markus Howard is riding quite the hot streak.
In the last four games for the Golden Eagles (7-3), Howard has averaged 29.8 points per game while shooting 25 of 47 (53%) on three-pointers.
Howard was honored as Big East player of the week after MU’s last two victories. He also was named one of two student-athletes on the
NCAA Division I men’s basketball oversight committee.
Howard sat down to talk about the NCAA, shooting, his family and more.
Q. What was your reaction when you were presented with the opportunity to be on the NCAA oversight committee?
A. First and foremost, it is a huge honor. To be able to represent not only myself, my institution but all Division I athletes as a whole. I was extremely excited to be able to work with Val Ackerman of the Big East, all the people higher up in the NCAA. Coach (Steve Wojciechowski) brought me in and told me how big of a deal it was and how proud of me he was. I’m really excited to work with those people and try to help make our years and our process as student-athletes a much more enjoyable one. If anything, I think I can help just give them a student-athlete perspective.
Q. You are a non-voting member of the committee. But if you were made czar of college basketball, what would be the one thing you’d change?
A. It’s been a big point of emphasis around the country that people have talked about: the paying of the players. I just feel there is a little bit of uncertainty in that aspect, so it’s something I would want to get squared away and what would be the policy. Just making sure the athlete is best taken care of and not being taken advantage of and things of that nature.
Q. You set a school record by making 11 of 15 three-pointers against Chicago State. Was that the hottest you’ve ever been on a basketball court?
A. To be honest, I wasn’t even realizing what was going on during the game with the shooting thing. I just got lost in the game, I was so locked in. I was so into it that I really didn’t even pay attention to what I was doing individually, I was just worried about collectively what we were doing as a team trying to get that win. After the fact, knowing I did what I did, it was great and I was fortunate to be in the position I was. I couldn’t really think of a time to where I was feeling it like that. The only other time I can think of was last year against Xavier with everything working out in my favor. But that was the probably the best I’ve ever felt. I’ve never had a game where I made nothing but threes. There was only a couple of times that I felt like it might not have a chance of going in, but other than that, I felt like every shot I threw up was going in.
Q. Your floater has been an effective weapon for you this season. What made you want to add that?
A. Last year I would get into the paint, Iwould go up off two feet to try to finish at the rim. I would fall a lot and be on the floor a lot. It was something me and Coach talked a lot about in the off-season, me trying to avoid falling on the floor. I worked on my floater so I’m not really giving the defense a chance to block my shot. Just changing things up. And with the way I shoot from outside, it definitely creates something for me because people are closing out to me thinking I’m going to shoot. So when I get the paint, just making sure I’m not too deep and making sure I can get a shot off.
Q. It’s a lot harder shot than people realize, with your momentum going forward and trying to shoot it softly. What is your technique?
A. It depends on what the defense gives me. If I’m going full speed down the court, I want to try to avoid a charge so I’ll make sure I collect myself and not trail off, make sure I’m going straight up and down and not going forward. When you shoot a jump shot, you want to have a follow-through. But when you shoot a floater, you can’t because it gives the defense a better chance to block it. When you get it off, you want float it up and flick your hand down so it’s not really up there for the defense to block. You just want to gauge it the right way, you want to make sure it’s not too hard or too soft. It’s taken a lot of practice.
Q. What’s next to add to your game? A. I think utilizing more of my shot fake. The person I can really look at happens to be on my team. (Andrew) Rowsey. Just being with that guy every day in practice, it’s pretty unbelievable how he uses his shot fake. He’s so crafty, all the ways he can score. People know it’s coming and they still can’t stop it. That’s just the type of player he is, smart and crafty. Just working on my shot fake to try to keep defense guessing because it’s going to be harder for me to get my shot off as time goes on. Trying to get to the freethrow line more and trying to continue to make the right decisions on the court, getting my teammates involved. All that stuff is going to come with time.
Q. You and your brother (Central Arkansas senior Jordan Howard) coincidentally are tied with 40 three-pointers, a mark in the top 5 nationally. Do you guys have a family bet on who will have more this season?
A. We don’t have bets or anything like that but we talk every day. Me and him always go back and forth and then my oldest brother (Desmond), he kind of gives us common ground and says “You both just need to shut up and play.” Me and Jordan are so competitive but we love each other more than anything. I know for a fact we’ll be chasing each other with that aspect.
Q. You and Rowsey have been carrying a big load offensively. Are you worried that is not sustainable over the long season?
A. I’m not really worried at all. Me and Rowsey play really well together. I feel we feed off each other. Things are going to come for us. By any means, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy but I’m saying we’ve prepared well for it. We’ve worked so hard throughout this whole year, me and him going at it each and every day. I feel the way we compete we’re going to be ready for anyone that comes at us.
Q. You’ve had foul trouble in first halves of recent games. What do you need to do to avoid that?
A. I think I just need to realize and understand how refs are calling the game. I kind of got to get a feel for it early. And not pick up any thoughtless or careless fouls. I remember last game (against Wisconsin) I got an offensive foul that I shouldn’t have even committed. I have to eliminate fouls that are under my control. There’s no reason I should commit a foul in the first 10 seconds of a game.
Q. You haven’t missed a free throw this season (27 of 27). Do you think about that at all?
A. A little bit. I practice my free throws a lot and my goal is to never miss a free throw. I mean, they’re free. I feel I should be shooting a lot more free throws so I need to continue to be aggressive and try to draw fouls.
Q. You’re a sophomore but you’re actually younger than most of your freshmen teammates. Do they remind you of that?
A. The freshmen kind of tease me. I don’t know why, they need to follow their upperclassmen. Me and Theo (John) were talking today, just joking with each other, and he said, “You need to respect your elders.” I was like, “Alright, Theo.” It kind of hit me, the only person younger than me on the team is Jamal (Cain). I should be coming in with these guys. But Idon’t really think about it when I’m playing because I feel I play beyond my years.
Q. You’ve got school. You’ve got basketball, which is like a full-time job. Now you have the NCAA committee. What do you do when you have a free couple hours?
A. It rarely happens. When I’m free, I’m usually always calling my mom, my dad, my brothers. Just staying in touch with them, I love FaceTiming them just to see how they’re doing. It’s kind of an unexplainable relationship with my family, we’re extremely close. If I’m not on the court, I’m usually talking with them. But if not I’m usually hanging with my teammates. Me and Sam (Hauser) are roommates so we’re always hanging out, playing video games. I try to get as much rest as I can, just sleep. I do so much during the day that when I am alone, I really don’t want to be doing too much, just hanging out. I’m like any other 18, 19year-old in college. Just trying to figure it out.