Wyndham Basketball Association have found a star in the making with import star Maurice Howard making an immediate impact.
His start to life in Big V Championship Men has been powerful. The Devils are leading the way with three wins to start the season and Howard has made an explosive start in those wins. He’s currently leading the league in scoring, averaging 31 points a game.
The American import hails from Quincy, Florida which is where he first learned the game of basketball.
“My dad first bought me a basketball goal around the age of 7 or 8 - I didn’t know the game at this time, but I would just go out in the backyard and play,” Howard said. “I didn’t join my first team until the sixth grade when I was asked to try out by the middle school coach, Coach Roy Howard - where I first learned to play.”
It was during these early stages he fell in love with basketball and had dreams of one day taking his basketball as far as it could take him.
“I’ve always had love for basketball to the point where I was deterred from playing other sports,” Howard said. “Yes, initially there were NBA dreams, but I understood my chances of making it, so I’m going to use basketball to take me as far as I can go.”
And far he would go!
Maurice ended up playing all four years of his college basketball at Alcorn State University in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
By the time he concluded his senior season, Maurice had set the school record in 3-pointers made and sits fifth in school history for total assists.
Fast forward to now and Maurice Howard is once again making name for himself… this time in Australia.
When offered an opportunity to join the Wyndham Basketball Association as an import, he jumped at it.
“They were so transparent with me and they gave me my first opportunity to become a pro basketball player," he said.
It’s an opportunity he has taken with both hands as Howard has shone for the Wyndham Championship Men so far with those big wins and huge scores pumping up the Devils community in 2022.
“So far it’s been going as planned - I feel like I’ve been able to find my rhythm early on,” Howard said.
Howard has amassed a number of high scoring games already, including a 40-point game against Western Port.
He’s proven to be nightmare for opposing guards and shown number of different offensive weapons.
It’s all down to the shots he takes away from the spotlight; Howard isn’t afraid to put in the hours needed to make himself an offensive threat from all parts of the court.
“I would say my work ethic outside of practicing with the team makes me hard to guard,” he said. “I feel as if I can score the ball on all three levels whether it’s driving to the basket, shooting floaters, pulling up in mid-rangers or shooting from the 3 – also being able to get my teammates involved in the midst of that.”
That work ethic pushes Howard in all aspects of his life and he’s not afraid to aim high in 2022 and set some big goals for not only himself, but the team as well this season.
“My goals for this season include getting better each game and being a great teammate,” Howard said. “The goals for the team are to win a championship and at the end of the season, move up in divisions to NBL1.”
