Markus Howard Explained

Markus Howard
Position:Shooting guard
Height Ft:5
Height In:10
Weight Lb:175
League:Liga ACB
EuroLeague
Team:Cazoo Baskonia
Number:0
Birth Date:3 March 1999
Birth Place:Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
College:Marquette (2016–2020)
Draft Year:2020
Career Start:2020
Years1:
Team1:Denver Nuggets
Years2:2021–2022
Team2:Grand Rapids Gold
Years3:2022–present
Team3:Baskonia
Highlights:

Markus Anthony Howard (born March 3, 1999) is a Puerto Rican-American professional basketball player for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Marquette Golden Eagles, where he was a two-time All-American and led the nation in scoring in the 2019–20 season.

High school career

Howard began his high school career at Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona. As a freshman, he started in the backcourt with his brother and averaged 23 points per game, leading his team to the state semifinals.[1] He committed to Arizona State following his freshman season.[2] After a sophomore season where he averaged 32.4 points per game, Howard decommitted from Arizona State and reopened up his recruitment.[3]

For his junior season, Howard transferred to national basketball power Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada.[4] During his junior season at Findlay Prep, where he led the team in scoring, Howard announced that he would reclassify to the class of 2016 and signed with Marquette.[5]

College career

As a freshman at Marquette University, Howard entered the starting lineup and averaged 13.2 points per game and led the country in three-point shooting at 54.7%. He was named to the 2017 Big East Conference All-Freshman team.[6] [7] As a sophomore, Howard became one of college basketball's top scorers. On the season, Howard averaged 20.4 points per game and was named second-team All-Big East.[8] He also finished the season with the NCAA’s second-best free throw percentage (93.8%).

Going into his junior season of 2018–19, Howard earned national preseason recognition, appearing on the watch lists for the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award and the Bob Cousy Award for top point guard. Howard was also selected preseason first-team All-Big East.[9] In Marquette's non-conference schedule, Howard recorded two 45-point games, against ranked teams Kansas State and Buffalo. In the Buffalo win, Howard scored 40 of his total in the second half.[10] He scored a career-high 53 points in an overtime win over Creighton on January 9, 2019, breaking a Big East single-game record.[11]

Howard became Marquette's all-time leading scorer when he contributed 38 points in an 88–53 victory against Loyola (Md.) in the team's season opener of his senior year. He was named Big East player of the week on November 11, 2019.[12] On November 29, Howard scored 51 points in a 101–79 win over USC. He became the third player to score 50 points in a game in three straight seasons, joining Wayman Tisdale and Pete Maravich. In addition, since he scored 40 points in the previous match, he joined Maravich, Johnny Neumann, and Bob Pettit as the only players in major conferences to score 40 points on back-to-back days.[13] Howard sat out a game against Jacksonville on December 4 with a concussion.[14] On February 12, 2020, Howard scored 24 points and had five rebounds and two assists in a 72–71 loss to Villanova. He became the Big East's all-time leading scorer in league games, surpassing Lawrence Moten's 1,405 points.[15] At the conclusion of the regular season, Howard was unanimously selected to the First Team All-Big East.[16] Howard averaged 27.8 points and 3.3 assists per game as a senior.[17] During his time at Marquette University, Howard accumulated 2761 points.

Professional career

Denver Nuggets (2020–2022)

After going undrafted in the 2020 NBA draft, Howard signed a two-way deal with the Denver Nuggets[18] whose official announcement was released on November 30, 2020.[19] On May 13, 2021, Howard scored a career-high 15 points in a 114–103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[20] [21] He re-signed with the Nuggets on a new two-way contract on August 15, 2021.[22] Howard appeared in 31 games and had two 20-point performances during the 2021–22 season.[23]

Cazoo Baskonia (2022–present)

On July 17, 2022, the Spanish club Baskonia announced the signing of Howard into a two-year deal.[24] In October 2022, Howard became the eighth player ever to score 30 points or more in back-to-back games in the EuroLeague.[25] He scored 33 points against KK Partizan on October 14, 2022, and 30 points against Crvena Zvezda on October 19, 2022.[26] [27]

On October 4, 2023, Howard signed a new contract with Baskonia through 2026 and on May 14, 2024, he agreed upon a further extension through 2028.

National team career

Howard has represented the United States in FIBA play on two occasions. In 2015, he was a member of the gold medal-winning US team in the 2015 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship. Howard then won a gold medal at the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Zaragoza, Spain.[28] In the U17 tournament, Howard averaged 11.9 points and 2.6 assists per game.[29]

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Denver| 37 || 1 || 5.5 || .377 || .277 || .778 || .6 || .5 || .1 || .0 || 2.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Denver| 31 || 0 || 5.7 || .386 || .400 || .870 || .4 || .2 || .3 || .0 || 4.1|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 68 || 1 || 5.6 || .382 || .341 || .844 || .5 || .4 || .2 || .0 || 3.4

Playoffs

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2021| style="text-align:left;"| Denver| 9 || 0 || 12.4 || .405 || .423 || .500 || .8 || .4 || || .1 || 4.7

EuroLeague

Led the league

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2022-23| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Baskonia| 33 || 16 || 20.5 || .400 || .365 || .886 || 1.4 || 1.2 || .6 || || 14.2 || 8.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2023-24| 39 || 18 || 23.0 || .431 || .400 || .837 || 1.2 || 1.6 || .5 || .0 || style="background:#CFECEC;"|19.5* || 11.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 72 || 34 || 21.9 || .419 || .386 || .858 || 1.3 || 1.4 || .5 || .0 || 17.1 || 9.8

Domestic leagues

Led the League
YearTeamLeague
2 25.4 .367 .368 1.000 4.5 3.5 16.5
32 19.1 .463 .424 .777 1.1 1.3 .6 16.5
30 22.3 .439 .410 .893 1.3 1.3 .6 19.4*

College

Led NCAA Division I
2016-17Marquette31 27 22.0 .506 .547 .889 2.2 2.3 .8 .1 13.2
2017-18Marquette34 31 31.5 .464 .404 .938 3.2 2.8 1.0 .1 20.4
2018-19Marquette34 34 33.5 .420 .403 .890 4.0 3.9 1.1 .0 25.0
2019-20Marquette29 29 33.2 .422 .412 .847 3.5 3.3 .9 .0 27.8*
Career128 121 30.1 .444 .427 .882 3.2 3.1 1.0 .0 21.6

Personal life

Howard's older brother Jordan Howard played college basketball for Central Arkansas and was the 2018 Southland Conference Player of the Year. The brothers were teammates for one season at Perry High.[30] He is of Puerto Rican descent.[31]

Howard is very public about his Christian faith. Howard explained the reason why he wears number 0 by saying, “First and foremost, I’m a Christian before anything else. I’m a son [of God], so I want to be sure that my number meant something and it represented something. It truly represents that without my relationship with Christ, I feel like I am not the person that I’m meant to be.“[32] In 2018, Howard started a Fellowship of Christian Athletes club at Marquette.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mark. Heller. 2013–2014 Tribune Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Markus Howard. East Valley Tribune. April 20, 2014. December 29, 2018.
  2. Web site: Richard. Obert. Markus Howard from Gilbert Perry commits to ASU basketball. The Arizona Republic. August 27, 2014. December 29, 2018.
  3. Web site: Richard. Obert. Perry guard Markus Howard decommits from ASU. The Arizona Republic. March 16, 2015. December 29, 2018.
  4. Web site: Ashton. Ferguson. Arizona transfer Howard excited about playing for Findlay Prep. Las Vegas Review-Journal. June 19, 2015. December 29, 2018.
  5. Web site: Findlay Prep's Markus Howard reclassifies to 2016, commits to Marquette. USA Today. April 3, 2016. December 29, 2018.
  6. Web site: Ben. Steele. Marquette guard Markus Howard has added muscle to help grow his game. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. October 25, 2018. December 29, 2018.
  7. Web site: Matt. Velazquez. Marquette's Markus Howard named to Big East all-freshman team. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. March 5, 2017. December 29, 2018.
  8. Web site: Ben. Steele. Marquette's Markus Howard named to all-Big East second team. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. March 4, 2018. December 29, 2018.
  9. Web site: Howard and Hauser earn BIG EAST honors as MU is picked second. Marquette Golden Eagles. October 25, 2018. December 29, 2018.
  10. Web site: Emily. Caron. Markus Howard Explodes for 40-Point Second Half as Marquette Knocks Off Buffalo. Sports Illustrated. December 21, 2018. December 29, 2018.
  11. Web site: Kyle. Boone. Marquette's Markus Howard explodes for 52 points in overtime win vs. Providence. CBSSports.com. January 4, 2018. December 29, 2018.
  12. News: Marquette's Howard, Villanova's Robinson-Earl Nab First #BIGEASThoops Weekly Honors . November 12, 2019 . Big East Conference . November 11, 2019.
  13. News: Marquette's Markus Howard drops 51, joins elite company . December 1, 2019 . . . November 29, 2019.
  14. News: Steele . Ben . Marquette 75, Jacksonville 56: Golden Eagles win without Markus Howard . December 9, 2019 . . December 4, 2019.
  15. News: Marquette's Markus Howard now Big East's career points leader . February 13, 2020 . . February 12, 2020.
  16. News: Steele . Ben . Marquette's Markus Howard is named to all-Big East first team . March 8, 2020 . . March 8, 2020.
  17. News: Dauster . Rob . NBC Sports College Basketball All-American Teams . March 16, 2020 . . March 10, 2020.
  18. News: Steele . Ben . Marquette's Markus Howard gets a chance with the Denver Nuggets after going undrafted . November 19, 2020 . . November 18, 2020.
  19. Web site: Nuggets sign guard Markus Howard to two-way contract. November 30, 2020. nba.com. November 30, 2020.
  20. Web site: 2021-05-13. Nuggets' Markus Howard sets new career-high in win over Timberwolves. 2021-05-13. The Rookie Wire.
  21. Web site: 2021-05-13. Nikola Jokic leads super-sized Nuggets past Timberwolves. 2021-05-13. The Denver Post. Both Markus Howard (15 points) and Vlatko Cancar (14) enjoyed career-highs and helped offset Karl-Anthony Towns’ 20-point, 11-rebound effort for Minnesota..
  22. Web site: Nuggets Re-Sign Markus Howard To Two-Way Deal . 2022-10-19 . Hoops Rumors . en-US.
  23. Web site: Nuggets 2021–22 Player Reviews: Markus Howard . 2022-10-19 . www.nba.com . en.
  24. Web site: Markus Howard, nuevo director de juego de Cazoo Baskonia. acb.com. July 17, 2022. July 17, 2022.
  25. 1582834099928338432. DariusGaruolis. 30+ point back-to-back #EuroLeague games 2022–23 Markus Howard 2019–20 Nando De Colo 2016–17 Milos Teodosic 2004–05 Charles Smith 2003–04 Milos Vujanic 2003–04 Lynn Greer 2001–02 Vlado Scepanovic 2001–02 Jaka Lakovic. October 19, 2022. January 6, 2024. Garuolis. Darius.
  26. Web site: Markus Howard explodes for 33 points as Baskonia defeats Partizan in OT . 2022-10-19 . basketnews.com . en.
  27. Web site: 2022-10-19 . Baskonia prevails at home over feisty Crvena Zvezda . 2022-10-19 . Eurohoops . en.
  28. Web site: Ryan. Stevens. USA Basketball Training Camp Veteran: Markus Howard. https://web.archive.org/web/20160614211242/http://www.usab.com/news-events/news/2016/06/markus-howard-usab-veteran.aspx. dead. June 14, 2016. USA Basketball. June 12, 2016. December 29, 2018.
  29. Web site: Incoming Marquette Basketball Freshman Markus Howard Wins FIBA U17 Gold Medal With Team USA. SBNation.com. June 3, 2016. December 29, 2018.
  30. Web site: Richard. Obert. College basketball's 'Splash Brothers' Jordan and Markus Howard got their start at Perry High. The Arizona Republic. January 11, 2018. December 29, 2018.
  31. https://www.elvocero.com/deportes/fbpur-pone-el-ojo-en-markus-howard/article_0b28bad8-d561-11e7-bfc8-574b962314ba.html Fbpur pone el ojo en Markus Howard (Spanish)
  32. Web site: MAGAZINE: Marquette's Markus Howard is Making Disciples and Buckets . Sports Spectrum . March 10, 2020.