It’s 60 degrees and sunny in San Diego and temperatures are below freezing in Peoria a week removed from a snow day. While the weather in the River City is significantly colder, graduate guard Mikey Howell has been heating up for the Braves at the right time.
Howell, a graduate transfer from UC-San Diego, is finding his place on the Braves. The all-time assists leader at his former school has not slowed down, as he ranks second on the team in assists. Passing is what the San Diego native is in the record books for, but the second half of the season has released a side of Howell that fans may not have expected.
On Valentine’s Day, Howell was named the Missouri Valley Newcomer of the Week after his performances in the wins against conference foes Loyola and Drake. During the two-game stretch, Howell averaged 13 points, four rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 58.3% from the field and 57.1% beyond the arc.
Just like that, the pass-first point guard narrative went out the window.
“[Passing] has always been something I’m naturally gifted at,” Howell said. “I have a feel for the game. My vision is above-average, but I’ve wanted to be a little more aggressive scoring the ball and being better on defense.”
Having a full semester at Bradley under his belt, Howell has grown in many ways. A lot of that has to do with adjusting to college away from home in San Diego.
“For any newcomer, it takes them a little bit,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “It doesn’t even matter if you’re a fifth-year senior, but you can see Mikey in the second semester has really turned it up and gotten more comfortable.”
The need for something more
UCSD was a competitive basketball team during Howell’s tenure, going 77-20 at the D-II level in Howell’s first three years as an active player after redshirting his freshman year, but something was missing.
Before the guard’s sophomore year, UCSD’s found out that their application to jump to Division I was accepted, which was great for Howell and the rest of the school. However, good things take time.
Each D-II school that makes the jump to D-I is not allowed to compete in postseason play for two to three years, depending on the circumstances. College basketball players dream of playing in March Madness, but Howell, of course, did not have a chance to make that happen.
Howell – along with a record-breaking number of other athletes – hit the transfer portal after the 2021-22 season.
“The reason I did that is because at UC-San Diego, we have no postseason because we were [restricted],” Howell said. “So I knew I wanted to play for something bigger than just the season. Bradley was one of the first ones that contacted me when I hit the portal, and it just felt natural talking to Coach Wardle.”
The left-handed guard averaged 6.9 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game as a senior at UCSD. The Tritons, members of the Big West Conference, were among the top five in the country in 3-point field goals attempted, so the run-and-gun style of play looked a lot different than the more physical nature of the MVC.
Bradley is in the bottom half of the NCAA in terms of pace of play, sitting at No. 219 in the country, per KenPom rankings. As a result, his stats on the Hilltop have dropped, but Howell knows his role on a team with scorers like junior guard Terry Roberts and sophomore forward Rienk Mast.
Why Bradley?
Howell is the second youngest in his family of five siblings with two older brothers, two older sisters and one younger brother.
“Our family was always close,” Howell said. “It was great growing up, kind of having a busy household all the time. It was hectic at times, but I liked it. Family is very important to me, so just having the mentors in my older siblings, I had people to talk to all the time and my older brother is like my best friend.”
The Bradley brotherhood helps that homesick feeling, especially with a Braves team that features players from all over the world. With coaches calling and texting the 6-foot-3 point guard every day, that made an impact on Howell.
“I just kind of felt that family feel from them,” Howell said. “I know since it was on Zoom, I couldn’t really get a visit, but they did the best they did and it all paid off in the end.”
Playing at Bradley presents Howell the opportunity to not only play basketball, but to also pursue his master’s degree in management. The guard has found his academics to be surprisingly manageable, even while spending a significant amount of time traveling, practicing and playing. Additionally, Bradley’s semester-based schedule is more favorable, at least to Howell, over UC-San Diego’s academic year, which is split into quarters.
“Coming from UC-San Diego, that was a very tough, high academic school, so it actually isn’t that bad,” Howell said.
Mikey’s maturity
On one of the youngest teams in the Valley with many newcomers, maturity is an important skill to have. Howell fits the quintessential role that Bradley needs.
During COVID-19, it is hard to judge maturity over film or a Zoom call, but Wardle landed just who he was looking for.
“Mikey’s a talented player; we watched a ton of film on him and we loved his maturity, loved his character,” Wardle said. “It was just a matter of getting in the system and getting comfortable. Once he got comfortable, you see he’s taken off and been very consistent for us.”
From a bird’s-eye view, having to lead a team full of newcomers, which has played without senior forward and cornerstone Ja’Shon Henry for 18 games, while still being a newcomer himself may seem like an odd spot for Howell to be in. But Wardle believes his game has been clicking as of late and that Bradey has looked different in a good way as a result.
“[For] all these transfers, their first year is a transitional year,” Wardle said. “It’s hard to come in and boom, you get comfortable right away. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a fifth-year senior… He’s had some really good games all season for us, but I think he’s been practicing more consistent.”
Even though Howell has not started a game this season, the guard is averaging over 20 minutes a game. Howell can attribute that to increasing his production when Roberts dealt with a minor injury and finding chemistry with Roberts on the floor.
“When Terry hurt his ankle, you could tell he really took a step up for the team and started making some more plays, and I think that’s really increased his minutes,” Wardle said. “I love having two point guards on the floor. It makes it very hard to guard and the ball moves better, so I think you’re going to see him and Terry together on the floor quite a bit down the stretch.”
“I love it; I love playing with Terry,” Howell added. “Having two point guards that have vision, that just opens the floor a lot more.”
With March looming closer and closer, Wardle strongly believes the 23-year-old carries a steadying demeanor which is much needed on a Braves team with two other transfers and two freshmen, all of whom play significant minutes.
“I think just in the locker room – his presence and how he talks to the guys,” Wardle said on how Howell shows his maturity. “He’s been there through college, Division II and Division I. It’s a long season. You can’t get too high, can’t get too low, and I think Mikey brings that to us.”
In return, the Braves hope to bring something to Howell in return in his final season – a trip to the postseason.
“Honestly, I’m just taking everything step-by-step,” Howell said. “You don’t really want to get too far ahead, but of course, in the back of our minds, we want to look ahead to March and Arch Madness so that’s something we always think about, but we’re just taking it game by game and getting better every day.”
“There’s a nice, steady calmness that he brings to our team and we need it down the stretch, but he’s been great to coach,” Wardle said. “He’s been a breath of fresh air to the program this year and hopefully we can finish strong for him.”
