CSU head coach Anita Howard’s drive on full display this season

Columbus State women’s basketball coach Anita Howard’s determination has been a driving force in her personality as far back as Lonnie Bartley can remember.

Bartley was Anita Howard’s first college head coach back when she was still Anita Griffin. The longtime Fort Valley State head coach recalls when she first joined the Lady Wildcats program, which coincided with the arrival of Jamie McDonald, the No. 2 junior college player in the nation.

Howard was set on starting as a freshman, but McDonald was fresh off two seasons at Trinity Valley Community College where she played in 70 games and won a national championship. Bartley reasoned with Howard on the phone and asked if his inexperienced freshman could guarantee him there would be no nerves come the first game.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.

“She thought about it for a while,” Bartley said. “She said, ‘No, I can’t tell you that. But I tell you what: Whoever this other girl is, I’m going to give her hell in practice and every day of her life.’ And she did.”

Howard’s transition from playing to coaching has maintained the same resolve she showed as a player at Fort Valley State and later Armstrong State. After head coaching stints at Salem College and Livingstone College, Howard took the Columbus State job last summer, committed to leading a competitive program to even greater heights.

So far, Howard has the team on that trajectory. Prior to Saturday’s game against North Georgia, Columbus State sits at 23-1 and is fifth in the latest Division II rankings. The standout efforts from the Lady Cougars have also furthered the accomplishments of Howard, who picked up her 100th career victory as a head coach against Clayton State on Feb. 8.

Howard’s Lady Cougars appear on the cusp of a national title run, which is quite the accomplishment for a coach in her first year. But for Howard and those who know her, the high level of play from Columbus State is what’s come to be expected with a Howard-led team.

“It’s just a testament to how hard she’s worked at it and her natural abilities,” said College of Coastal Georgia head coach Roger Hodge, who coached Howard at Armstrong State. “I’m not scheduling her, I’ll tell you that.”

A test and a tune-up

Howard played a pivotal role in Armstrong State’s Peach Belt Conference championship team in 2003, when her defense down the stretch helped the Pirates top Columbus State.

Thirteen years later, Howard found herself leading the team she helped devastate way back when.

As she settled in, Howard said she needed to test her players. Howard, whose father, Aaron Griffin, was in the Air Force, looked no farther than Fort Benning. With returning players and new recruits alike, the Lady Cougars headed to boot camp in the preseason.

“I wanted to put them through something that would let me see who I have on my roster, to see who can endure and who will give up,” Howard said.

None of her players tapped out, mirroring the resilience Howard displayed as a player. It was also the first sign to Howard that this group could be something special.

This job for Howard was a change of pace from her first two gigs. Salem College and Livingstone College were very much rebuilding jobs, as the two teams were a combined 15-34 in the seasons prior to her arrival. Succeeding with those programs took a build-from-the-ground-up mentality from the head coach, but the story wasn’t the same at Columbus State.

Fresh off a 25-6 season, the Lady Cougars were on the right track before Howard’s arrival. So instead of starting over, Howard tweaked and prodded what former head coach Jonathan Norton did before. The defensive pressure — a staple of Howard’s style — was cranked to 11. As a result, conditioning leading up to the season was increased.

And the players responded.

“It was about making them believe in my philosophy and understand that although we’ve been successful in the past, let’s just tweak some things so we can be greater in the future,” Howard said. “They’ve bought into everything I’ve brought to the table and ran with it.”

That emphasis on defense has followed Howard for practically her entire basketball career. At Beach High School in Savannah, head coach Ronald Booker installed the “Dog Defense” for the Lady Bulldogs, which consisted of a press from wire to wire. That strategy carried over to Bartley, who pushed his players to press from end line to end line.

Suffocating defense has been a catalyst for Columbus State, as it sits first in the conference in scoring defense, defensive field-goal percentage and blocked shots and second in steals and turnover margin.

Howard credits the influence of Booker and Bartley for her defensive focus.

“Both of those gentlemen have kind of molded me into the strong woman I am today,” Howard said. “I believe defense wins championships. Defense becomes our offense. Those are two strong coaches who forced me to be competitive and mentally tough.”

A day to remember

Howard’s personal motivation to achieve has been evident going back to Beach High School, but part of it comes from having goals. Hence Columbus State’s use of April 2, 2017.

The Lady Cougars have adopted ‘4-2-17’ as a team motto, because it was the original date of this season’s national championship game. From chants to hashtags to passcodes for certain team activities, those four numbers have been resonating with the team all season in an effort to drive home its importance.

The date is only one piece of Howard’s national title tactics.

She’s had her players close their eyes and visualize the national championship game, from the fans in the stands to the look of the court under their feet. Before the team’s game against Montevallo, she had two former Shaw players she knew from her assistant coaching days address the team, detailing their experiences in that big moment. She’s has her players study No. 1 Ashland repeatedly this season to show them what it takes to be the best.

“I’m a big believer that you have to see it, feel it and do it,” Howard said. “I’ve tried to give them a picture of how things are going to look from preseason, regular season and postseason. It’s like painting a picture or writing a book: You’re going to have your ups and downs.”

Howard’s efforts to make a national championship run real for her players becomes another reflection of how she’s reached this point as a coach.

From pushing a teammate back at Fort Valley State every day in practice to piling up wins at cellar dwellers Salem College and Livingstone, Howard has parlayed what she believes it takes to win into victories left and right.

If the Lady Cougars can continue knocking down objectives with Howard out in front, well, it may be time to mark your calendars.

“Nothing she’s done thus far has surprised me,” Bartley said. “I know she’s ready.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "CSU head coach Anita Howard’s drive on full display this season."