Rob Yanders’ top high school player in Southwest Missouri last season, Zach Howell, is headed to UW-Milwaukee to continue his hoops career.
Springfield Catholic and Yanders Law alumni Zach Howell made his mark in Southwest Missouri and is ready for his next chapter. When asked if he was apprehensive about moving away to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he simply said: “Honestly, not really.”
“I have been wanting to start this new chapter for a while,” Howell says. “Of course, I have a bunch of relationships back home, but I am ready for something new.”
Howell has already been in Wisconsin for about a week and is enjoying the fruits of his lengthy recruitment process.
“(My recruitment) started with SIUe the summer after my sophomore year,” Howell recalls. I didn’t have much else going even through my junior season, but I just stayed focused and worked hard. I had a visit to Texas Tech but still not a lot going on. My senior season was tough. With the weird COVID year and then also the portal… there are only like 3,000 D1 spots, but I stayed patient, kept my head down, and kept working.”
Howell then visited the campus at UW Milwaukee and was offered to play D1 hoops. He knew “right away” that is where he wanted to be.
“I had a visit with Northwest Missouri State the day before,” Howell recalls. “Then I visited (UW-Milwaukee’s) campus with Rob (Yanders), played with the guys a bit, and talked with Coach (Bart) Lundy afterward. I could tell he was a good coach but also a good person. After that talk, I went back with Rob, Sly (Yanders), and my Mom, discussed everything, and we found that there was no wavering in my decision. So, I made up my mind right there.”
This summer, Zach has his game to the grindstone as always. We at The Basketball Movement know that he is a complete gym rat.
“Defense is the thing I most want to get better at, mostly on-ball,” Howell says. “Also ball-handling, shooting, finishing… I’m trying to work on all facets.”
Asked about the takeaways from high school and AAU he will use the most, Howell delivered an answer we would expect out of one of our most frequent visitors.
“What I have relied on is hard work,” Howell says. “You cannot cheat getting better. I keep my head down and stay in the gym. High school and AAU are very different. The next level is really a combo of both. There is a higher level of competition in AAU but more organization in high school. College is both but elevated.”
If any player is ready for elevated play, it is Zach Howell. He does not take his time on the hardwood for granted, has worked for what he has, and will relentlessly work to keep improving.
Off the court, he will spend his first year or so taking gen-ed courses and getting a feel for the direction his education will head. Zach is a winner, and we have no doubt he will succeed in all areas of his exciting new journey!