UW Recruiting: William Howard

There have been a lot or reports about a European recruit that UW has been chasing down. William Howard may be that recruit.

In the late signing period last season, the Husky Haul presented a few names out of the European circuit that UW was interested in; Marek Soucek, Joey Van Zegeren, Livio Jean-Charles, and William Howard. Read the article here.

6’8 Small Forward, William Howard has since come to the states and is playing for New Hope Academy in Maryland. And that is not all, it looks like UW may have been the school to place him there in order for him to get Eligible.

If this is the case, being placed in a Prep School by a University coaching staff usually means the recruit is

at least favoring that college and/or that college is strongly favoring the recruit.

Howard lists Providence, Rhode Island, Maryland as the main schools in on him but if he is able to get his SAT back with good scores, many more Mid Majors and High Majors will be in on him.

He had an impressive showing in the National Prep Showcase. Many scouts have taken notice of his ability to rebound, defend, shoot from outside, and his natural athleticism. Many said that this recruit has “tons of potential.” Even NBA draft sites have picked up on him.

DraftExpress.com wrote a nice bio on him here. But here are some great tidbits:

"Howard’s main virtues at the moment lie in his perimeter shooting ability. He converted 43% of his 3-pointers in the tournament on over 4 attempts per game. He has an excellent shooting stroke with his feet set, but can also make pull-up jumpers off the dribble if his defender closes out on him too anxiously.Defensively, Howard has very good tools with his nice size, good frame and long wingspan, although he lacks a degree of toughness and isn’t the quickness player you’ll find laterally. If he applies himself on this end there’s no question that he could be extremely effective, though, as he seems to have very good instincts."

Washington was one of the first schools on him, last year in France, and now it appears they have helped him get into a prep school so he can get eligible to come to UW. This may not be a lock but UW has to be the favorite for him. Foreign students tend to favor schools that are there early, because unlike American kids they don’t have the same type of ties to college athletics in America.

Stay tuned.