SEATTLE — The University of Washington is headed to the NCAA tournament for a second year in a row and is predicted to be a seven seed, its highest ranking since Kelsey Plum led the team in 2017. The Huskies are in this position in no small part due to the play of sophomore guard Avery Howell, who is the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.7 points per game, the team’s leading rebounder with 8.3 per game, and adds 1.4 assists per contest.
Howell joined the Huskies through the transfer portal after a relatively strong freshman season at USC. At Southern California, she appeared in 35 games with three starts, averaging 7.5 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 43.1% from the field and 39.9% from behind the arc. Howell was particularly impactful in the NCAA Tournament for the Trojans, recording her best performances of the season in the Sweet 16 against Kansas State and the Round of 32 against Mississippi State. So, the highly-recruited guard entering the transfer portal surprised many outside observers. But Howell told The IX Basketball the decision was motivated by feeling she needed to be in a different system that better matched the way she plays to accomplish her goals for the future.
“I’m a catch-and-shoot shooter for the most part, but just trying to show that I have other parts to my game — getting to the rim, playing defense, be able to rack up rebounds,” Howell said. “I think that I just thought, entering the transfer portal, I could find that. And obviously, I grew a lot at USC, and had a lot of great success there, but I just thought I would be able to find a little more versatility for myself somewhere else.”
When she entered the portal, a time Howell described as crazy hectic, Washington’s call was the first that Howell took because the Huskies had been one of her final top choices out of high school. The system fit what she was looking for, but the choice came down to her relationship with head coach Tina Langley and Washington’s culture.
“Obviously, I was super blessed to be in a position where I had options for schools, but … Tina was one of the coaches who asked me how I was doing on a personal level. Not everything was about basketball, which I think in that time was super valuable to me,” Howell said. “And then obviously, everyone talks about the culture at UW, and then actually being able to experience that has been like life-changing.”
Langley knew from recruiting Howell in high school the kind of incredible person and player she is, and that her program would fit Howell well.
“The mission of our program is development. It’s helping young people develop as leaders, as players, as people,” Langley told The IX Basketball. “Because we’re a development program, we want to spend a lot of time on the details and creating habits. … We want to teach them to play the game the way that pros do, which is to understand the game at a high level, not just be skilled. So I think that fits Avery so well because she is skilled, she works really hard, and she’s got a great knowledge of the game.”
Now, having been in Seattle for nearly a whole season, Howell also thinks Washington’s on-court system, which gives a lot of freedom to play to your strengths, has benefitted her.
“I feel like I’ve been able to find myself on the defensive side pretty well and rack up some rebounds, which I love,” Howell said. “And then show that I can get downhill, I can finish at the rim, and score at three levels. And I just think the offense that we run here is pretty open, and we have sets, but we also can just kind of play, and we have a lot of players that can get their own buckets … so they have to get guarded, so I have a different advantage.”
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More than just a shooter
Howell wanted to show that she is more than just a catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, and she has done exactly that. Mutually benefiting herself and the Huskies, the guard’s width of talent has shone, and Washington has won more games than last season.
Make no mistake, Howell has not stopped being a scorer or shooting threes, in fact far from it. Her team-second-best (behind Sayvia Sellers) 13.7 points per game was punctuated by a 34-point performance in a road win at Wisconsin and 22 points in an upset win over then No. 6 Michigan. Instead, Howell is now less limited by the three-point line. She can, and does, still go off from outside the arc, but also gets herself free for layups and drives into the paint, getting herself to the bucket when the team is struggling offensively.
At USC, 148 of the 195 shots that Howell took were from behind the arc (75.9%), and she attempted 41 free throws. This season, 179 of her 293 attempted shots were from three (59.0%), and she attempted 69 free throws. At Washington, Howell has attempted more shots, taken a lower percentage of her shots from distance, and drawn more fouls. She has also been more efficient than in her freshman season, shooting 50.5% from the floor and 41.9% from three, up from 43.1% and 39.9%, respectively.
Sellers joked that her favorite part of playing with Howell is knowing it’s going to go in every time she shoots, “even if it doesn’t, I’m still happy every time she shoots the ball.” But she knows and made sure to acknowledge that she’s much more than that.
“Avery’s known as a deadly three-point shooter, but she does everything else,” Sellers told The IX Basketball. “She rebounds hard, she boxes out, she spaces the floor well, she reads close outs really well, she can pass, and just make plays. So she brings a lot to both ends of the floor.”
Iowa was one of the other schools that recruited Howell out of high school and in the transfer portal. Joking that probably every coach in the country also tried to get Howell when she entered the portal, head coach Jan Jensen had lots of complimentary things to say about Howell after the Huskies played in Iowa.
“The shooting ability is amazing, but she just has a nose for the ball, and she’s gritty, she competes,” Jensen said postgame. “That’s been a big addition for them because you pair her with Sellers, and that’s a mighty one-two punch.”
It is particularly on the defensive end of the floor that Langley feels Howell’s prowess isn’t as noticed by fans.
“She’s the toughest defender on our team every night,” Langley said. “She can guard a post, she can guard a point guard, she’s up for any assignment. She’s defending really well, moving really well, communicating and connecting us on defense really well.”
Rebounding is another one of Howell’s most obvious growth areas from her freshman season to now, increasing her rebounding average from 3.0 per game to a team-leading 8.3 as a 6’0 guard. Howell led the Big Ten in defensive rebounds per game and was fourth in total rebounds per game in conference play.
Last season, Howell didn’t really have to rebound because of the size that USC had with Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall, and bigger guards like JuJu Watkins. But it has always been something she has loved to do.
“I just think rebounding is something that is — not undervalued — but like, not that many people do it, especially not that many guards, and it’s kind of a work thing. You just kind of have to want it, and I like to do it,” Howell said. “I think it’s partly, like, the dirty work, just to end the offense’s possession and get the ball rolling the other way, to get us on offense and help us in our transition offense, which we love to run. So it just helps us.”
Freshman Brynn McGaughy, as a center/forward whose job it is to rebound, agrees that Howell’s mindset is a big part of why she is so good at rebounding.
“She’s always just had a knack for the ball. She’s not scared of contact. She’s just a dog,” McGaughy told The IX Basketball. “She’s a competitor. That’s the one thing when I think of Avery, competitor. She’ll outcompete everybody in the room, and I think that’s just part of it. No matter what, she just sees the ball and she wants to go get it. She’ll do whatever it takes because she has that motor, and she has the motivation, and she loves it. She loves every part of the game.”
Competitive mindset fuels growth
Howell’s on-court performances seem to be a direct result of her mentality. There is a visible competitiveness about Howell when she plays, and although she doesn’t know exactly where it comes from, it likely started with growing up with an older brother.
“I think now I just really want to win, and [will do] whatever it takes to win, whether it’s in practice and it’s a loose ball, or it’s to get a defensive rebound,” Howell said. “I also think it’s a lot of fun. I like to have fun, and I think competing and winning is fun.”
Howell grew up playing soccer and basketball competitively. Her mom and brother played basketball in college for Lewis-Clark. Her family ignited her passion for basketball, but as she continued playing both, it was her love of basketball when no one else was around that told her which path to choose. But the team aspect of the equation never leaves her mind.
“Everyone has a role on the team, and if everybody plays their role to the best of their abilities, your team, as a unit, goes out and does the best the team could possibly do,” Howell said. “If people try to go outside of what they’re best at or what their role is, sometimes it doesn’t work out super well in the team result of a game. So think that comes from an unselfishness to sacrifice and do whatever the team needs for me to win, for our team to win. I don’t really care if that’s getting 15 rebounds and no points; it doesn’t really matter. I just want to win games. … it’s what any of us would be willing to do any night.”
Sellers and McGaughy agree that Howell’s competitive desire to win helps lift the whole team, describing her competitiveness as relentless and non-stop.
“When you see her fired up, it makes you want to play harder,” Sellers said. “When she hits a big shot, it’s so much easier to celebrate because she’s been fired up all game. It’s really nice having someone on the court like that for 40 minutes straight.”
Langley thinks the world of Howell and her pro habits, believing she is a player we will be watching in the WNBA one day, but even she was surprised by the consistency of her mentality.
“To do that daily and never take a moment off is very unusual,” Langley said. “I think the thing that’s so impressive about Avery is how consistent she is as a person, as a leader and as a player, and I think as a teammate and a friend. When you watch her interact with our team, she’s just completely all in all the time.”
Howell’s growth is also a result of her dedication to developing. Langley described her as an incredible learner, someone who can be taught a skill and then, amazingly, implement it in the next game.
“She’s very driven to be great and to develop,” Langley said. “She has her own routine where she works out herself and works really hard. She takes every skill session so seriously, every practice. And then she’s gifted too; she has a natural talent for the game. It’s very rare to have the person who has the natural talent, and a drive, and a work ethic, to be the best.”
For evidence of her work, look no further than the three-point shooting she is primarily known for. McGaughy said that when they met in high school, Howell wasn’t a shooter at all.
“In high school, she was just bully ball, get and-ones, and she really worked her junior and senior year. She was just in the gym, bunch of threes,” McGaughy said. “I think it’s crazy how that’s the best part of her game, and she wasn’t even doing that all of her life. I think for her, she knew that’s what she had to do to get better offers. … Being her size and her position, she knew she needed to start shooting more. So she stopped hesitating, honestly, and just kept shooting.”
Howell demonstrating that work ethic and mentality impacts her team every moment they’re on the floor.
“If it’s a timeout, she’s so locked in and making sure we’re on the same page. Or communicating with her teammates if it’s a baseline out of bounds … she takes every possession so seriously,” Langley praised. “She’s very process-driven which is very good for a program to have someone that’s constantly in the competitive, connected mindset that she’s in. The questions she asks, how hard she’s playing every possession, the way she communicates, it just connects us all.”
Leading as a sophomore transfer
Howell’s desire to do whatever it takes to win also drives her leadership, a big area of her increased impact that can’t be seen on the stat sheet.
“If we need someone to be vocal and kind of bring energy, I want to do that,” Howell said. “Or talking defensively to help us make sure we’re in the right spots, or whatever it might be, I want to do that for the team.”
Admittedly, Howell found some challenges in leading as an underclassman in her first year with the program. So she approaches it as leading by example and just talking a lot on the court. Despite any difficulties, the team values her leadership and what she has to say because of the confidence in the work she’s put in.
“Everyone’s leaders on this team, but with Avery, she puts the work in. Everyone knows she loves basketball; she’s always in the gym, she’s the first one in the gym every day. So there’s a lot of respect behind everything that she says,” Sellers said. “So when she’s saying something, she means it, and it’s coming from a good place. So everyone receives whatever she says really well. And even if we don’t, we’ll have a conversation after if we do butt heads and we don’t shy away from that.”
McGaughy agrees with Sellers about the respect Howell has earned and her self-confidence and feels her support.
“She talks to me a lot on the floor. And if I’m struggling, kind of confused sometimes, she always seems to have the answer,” McGaughy said. “Everybody else appreciates that too, her gritiness and her ability to help everybody out. She’s never really thinking about just herself.”
Langley and her program believe in servant leadership — the ability to help the people around you be better. And Langley thinks that wanting everyone to be their best is at the core of Howell’s heart, and why she is a good leader.
“She’s learning to communicate with people how they can receive it. That’s a mark of a great leader. That takes time to learn, and she learned that really fast,” Langley said. “I think her heart for people has really been so evident this year. She wants well for the people around her, and that’s the people you want to follow. … I want to know that [the person leading me] wants well for me as a person and not just for what I can bring. And I think that’s her.”
Leadership is both where Howell feels she has grown the most this season and where she sees room for the most constant improvement. She feels she has grown in her ability to communicate in different ways with different people and leading when things aren’t going well, but she plans to grow even more into her own leadership style over the next two years.
Settling in off the court
Howell has seemingly fit as well off the court as she has on the court. She credited the environment, culture and people for making her transition so easy.
Sellers was happily shocked when she found out Howell would be joining the Huskies. The guard from Alaska knew Howell from the visit she took in high school, and kept up with her at USC, particularly remembering watching her light it up during March Madness. But mainly, Howell was just on her radar.
Since Howell’s transfer, the scoring duo has become fast friends. So much so that after the Big Ten Tournament, they went shopping for three hours, something Sellers hates and Howell loves, and Sellers said she had a really fun time.
“She’s a good person, very fun to be around, very high energy. And those are kind of the people that I gravitate towards because I’m also like that,” Sellers said.
“I think it’s hard not to like Sayvia,” Howell said. “I mean, she’s so funny, and she’s just a light to be around. She always makes you smile, makes you laugh… And then obviously she’s super competitive too. So I like to be on the same team as her because I know she’s going to leave everything out there, even if it’s in practice, and get on the ground for a loose ball and have that energy that helps me have the energy, and then the whole team has that. So it’s super fun to hang out with her off the court and then win with her on the court.”
Beyond their competitiveness, smaller things like taste in music have also helped them bond, particularly not wanting country music played. But it is their shared motivation on the court that helps Howell bring the best out of Sellers, even when it is hard, something Sellers appreciates.
“If I’m slacking, like, she’ll say something. And I respect people like that,” Sellers said. “Because sometimes when I see people slacking, it’s hard to be, like, ‘yo, like, you can give more, be better.’ That’s hard to do. Avery embraces that, and that’s who she is. And like it or don’t like it, but she’ll make you better.”
Howell didn’t have to make all new friends at Washington, though, as she was reunited with McGaughy, her high school club teammate. The two played together for Meta Hoops Idaho out of Boise during Howell’s junior year, McGaughy’s sophomore year. Even though they were only on the court together for about two months, because McGaughy broke her ankle, they instantly became best friends in the roughly four tournaments they played together.
The shared motivation to get scholarships and play at the highest level bonded the pair in high school. But McGaughy particularly feels that Howell was the person she needed to help her grow at that critical time.
“I’ve always kind of been a quiet player, and I’ve always kind of had quiet players around me, too. So she was definitely, like, a different look,” McGuaghy said. “So when we started playing together, her intensity and her leadership, it really helped me just become a better player and think more. And I always knew I had someone behind me who had my back, 24/7. Her leadership, it’s on and off the court, the bond that she creates with teammates and friends is special.”
The full circle moment they always thought would be cool but never expected to happen has helped both adjust to their new circumstances. They’ve had the comfort of knowing how each other communicates, how they play, what they need on and off the court, and now can proudly watch each other’s games blossom again.
March Madness
The Huskies started March off well, avenging their early conference loss to USC in a strong 76-64 victory to open the Big Ten Tournament. Howell scored 18 efficient points in both of Washington’s games, adding 9 rebounds and 3 assists against USC, and guard Elle Ladine found the shooting form that had eluded her senior season after leading the team in scoring as a junior.
They fell to UCLA in the quarterfinal the next day, 78-60. But the loss looked increasingly better, and particularly Washington’s 15-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, after the Bruins defeated Iowa by 51 points in the Championship game. That does little to satisfy Howell, though.
“I mean, for me, I’m a super competitive person, so I think that we should have obviously competed better and had a better result,” Howell said. “Obviously, we know UCLA is a really great team, and they’ve got a lot of strengths… but both those teams worked hard to get there. And I think that we could have done some things a little bit different to have a better outcome against UCLA. But that just sends us back here to sharpen things up. It helped us. We know we could compete with the best teams in the country.”
With roughly two weeks between when the Big Ten Tournament finished and the NCAA Tournament begins, the Huskies are focusing on themselves.
“Our team has been talking a lot about how it’s no different, postseason. You don’t want to change a bunch,” Howell said. “Nobody’s trying to do anything that different because postseason, you want to stick with yourself and your team and what’s been working. Obviously, scouts and schemes and things obviously come with whoever you play. But especially this week, just kind of focusing on us and sharpening up things that in [the] Big Ten Tournament we know we need to be better at, and even some weaknesses that we’ve had all year. Just trying to fine-tune things.”
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In that vein, looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies will need contributions from everyone and look for Howell to continue doing what she’s been doing all season consistently.
“Avery does this every game, no matter who we’re playing, so that’s what I expect out of her even in March Madness,” Sellers said. “We’re trying to take every game at a time and not put too much pressure on the game. So I think if everyone just stays consistent with who they’ve been, we’ll be alright.”
For Howell, that consistency will look like continuing to show off the elements of her game that have blossomed this year — scoring at all three levels, playing lock-down defense, racking up rebounds and leading in her own way.
The IX Basketball’s Angie Holmes contributed reporting for this story.
