- September 21, 2024
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Spruce Creek basketball coach David Howard. Photo by Ray Boone
Former Atlantic basketball coach David Howard shouts instructions to his team during a game. File photo
After 137 wins, four playoff appearances and six seasons, David Howard stepped down as the head coach of Atlantic’s boys basketball team to coach the boy’s team at Spruce Creek, where he was previously the head coach from 1998-2008.
Howard also played for the Hawks before graduating in 1982. His record 15 steals in a game against Warner Christian his senior year still stands to this day.
He stated that he originally had no intentions of leaving Atlantic after he heard of the resignation of former Spruce Creek coach Chase Tramont.
“It was a tough decision to leave Atlantic because I worked so hard to build that program from the ground up,” Howard said. “It’s been a great run for me. I enjoyed it. I had a bunch of great kids who played for me and believed in me.”
After 30 years of coaching high school basketball, Howard said he’s at the tail end of his career now. He envisions coaching the Hawks for about eight years before retiring from the game.
“I’m going to be here until I decide it’s time to hang up my whistle,” he said. “What a better way to end my career than to finish where it all started.”
The Hawks posted an 18-35 record in two seasons under Tramont. The first step in returning to success is the kids buying in..
“I’ve got to get them to think the way I think,” Howard said. “Success is something that you have to work hard to get. I think this group here is willing and hungry enough to do what it takes to be successful.”
His philosophy?
“I’m a winner. I can’t teach them how to lose,” he said. “I can only teach them how to win.”
