By Tyler Smith, Sports Editor
La Salle head coach Ashley Howard is a passionate leader.
A Philadelphia native who began his coaching career with the Explorers, Howard has moved up the ranks with different programs, culminating in his return to La Salle as the team’s head coach. Becoming the successor to a mentor in a profession like coaching comes with an immense amount of pride.
Tuesday night, Howard showed just about all the pride he had for his Explorers.
In the early going of the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team’s 86-73 victory over La Salle, the difference between team fouls was fairly wide. The Bonnies fell behind by nine points in the opening 10 minutes, but one might think the opposite would be the case if they looked at the distribution of foul calls. St. Bonaventure made a run, tying the game up at 22 a piece. The team foul differential remained in the Bonnies favor, with La Salle committing eight fouls to St. Bonaventure’s three. Howard was not fond of this disparity whatsoever, giving the referee an earful each time down the floor.
The physical nature of the game coupled with the lack of St. Bonaventure foul calls caused Howard to reach his tipping point.
An offensive rebound and follow attempt by La Salle swingman Christian Ray was met with some contact, but still no foul call. Howard dashed to the opposite end of the court to tell the officials how he really felt. Leaving the coach’s box mandates a technical foul; he got one. That “T” hand motion by the referee only poured gas onto the already-lit fire under Ashley Howard. He unleashed a tirade filled with some colorful vocabulary, earning him the second technical and ejection from the remainder of the game.
“I thought his anger escalated way too quickly. Christian Ray was fouled on the play in question; there’s no doubt about it, but I don’t think it warranted the ensuing explosion. Did the officials miss a call? Yes. But it was not egregious enough to the point where they deserved that level of verbal beratement,” said senior Tommy Valentine, ESPN+ Atlantic-10 broadcaster and play-by-play announcer for Tuesday’s matchup.
That “verbal beratement” did not stop once Howard exited Bob Lanier Court. He must have forgot to empty out his bag of “F-bombs” so he decided to come back in for another profanity-filled bashing. Once he finished, Howard went back to, well—nobody knows! The group of writers covering the game all pondered where in the Reilly Center Howard could have gone to watch the remainder of the game. He may have just had to watch the rest of the game on his phone, because televisions with ESPN on the dial are hard to find in the arena. The athletic department should probably invest in some TV’s for situations where the Reilly Center becomes too much for opposing head coaches to handle.
In all seriousness, considering the current college basketball climate, this outburst came inside a mostly empty gym. Everyone from the benches to the announcer’s table to the writers in the upper deck could hear just about every choice word Howard used. Like Valentine, other attendees were also taken aback by the very-audible outburst.
“What made the profanity startling to me was how clearly we could hear it on press row. We all knew coming into this year that we’d be able to hear a lot more of what happens on the court because of the absence of fans. But that was really the first time I was like, ‘Wow. This is crazy.’ We heard every bit of what he said,” said senior Mike Hogan, journalist from TapInto Greater Olean.
Howard claimed after the game that he exhibited this behavior in order to give his team the spark they needed to come out victorious. One suggestion to coach Howard regarding this instance, however, is to pick your spots better.
“For me, it was more just trying to let my guys know I was fighting for them and was just trying to light a fire under my team. I know the referees aren’t going to get every call right, so that was my intent,” Howard said.
“I’ve seen quite a few instances where a coach will purposefully push the envelope when it comes to arguing with referees or officials and get ejected from games to try and provide a spark for his team. Usually that’s a relatively effective approach, but not in a tied game, in the first half on the road,” said Valentine.
Howard’s efforts ultimately proved to be unsuccessful as the Bonnies created their own spark off the Explorers’ amplified energy. St. Bonaventure ended the half on a 21-11 run, scoring its highest first-half total of the season. The team carried that momentum into the second half, finishing with its highest full-game score as well.
When asked about the tirade postgame, St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said, “I don’t get involved in that. I have no idea. I have enough problems coaching my own team.”
Schmidt did not want to say anything negative about an Atlantic-10 colleague and friend. The two were seen happily conversing after the game, even sharing a laugh.
Overall, Ashley Howard is a respected coach in the Atlantic-10. He has won a national championship with Villanova and has been able to string together some impressive wins in his first few seasons as La Salle’s head coach. Howard simply did what so many other coaches, including Texas Tech’s Chris Beard that same night, do when they see their team being treated unfairly: speak their voice. The entire experience of covering such an event in a dead-silent gym was something I will not soon forget as a young journalist, however.
The Bonnies have to quickly forget about Howard’s outburst as well as this victory with the team heading to VCU for a matchup on ESPN2 Friday at 7 p.m.
