How a Milwaukee native ended up at Marquette, teaching the team's freshmen about his hometown

Chris Howell is in a good place.

The 27-year-old has spent the last decade following the sometimes unpredictable bounces of a basketball until they led him back home when he was hired in the summer as a program assistant with the Marquette men's team under head coach Shaka Smart.

The former Milwaukee King High School standout has played and coached in gyms in far-flung outposts like El Dorado, Kansas, and Brookings, South Dakota, and Jackson, Mississippi, and Hillsboro, Texas.

He cracks a wide smile when thinking about being on the staff of the seventh-ranked Golden Eagles and going to work Thursday at gleaming Fiserv Forum when MU (8-2) takes on St. Thomas (6-4) in its non-conference finale.

“It’s truly amazing," Howell said. "Growing up, kids in Milwaukee always want to be around Marquette. It’s either Marquette or the Bucks, that’s who you want to be around.

"Being around and seeing the success that Coach Smart and the other coaches are bringing to the city, just being in the community and giving back and showing love, and the support that we’re getting from fans, that’s truly amazing. For me, growing up here, it’s amazing."

As the newest member of the coaching staff, Howell has a lot of duties. But the one he takes the most pride in is showing MU newcomers such as Zaide Lowery and Tre Norman around his hometown.

Zaide Lowery and Tre Norman learning about Milwaukee

Howell had just been hired at MU and was playing in the All-County Tournament alongside other local players, and he took Lowery and Norman to the games at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

"That was one of the first weeks I got here," Norman said. "It was cool because it reminded me of Boston, we have a lot of money tournaments and city tournaments during the summer.

"That was one of the things I wanted to do when I got here was get acquainted with the inner city. More than anything, just meeting people that I can kind of relate to.”

When Howell's team played in the championship game, the whole MU roster was there in the stands and got to see that the 6-foot-5 Howell still has some game.

"He’s like a Draymond Green," Norman said. "He plays his role. His team don’t do well without him. He gets into the game, gets a couple buckets in the paint, gets a lot of rebounds. He rebounds hard. He does that in practice, too, he’s coming flying for rebounds."

Howell saw he had a niche as the only Milwaukee native on Smart's coaching staff. So he started taking Lowery and Norman around the north side neighborhoods where Howell grew up.

"They met my mom, a few of my friends," Howell said. "Just because I know when I first got to college, it was like you wanted to feel like you’re still home. So just being a part in helping them have an impact on the daily has truly just meant a lot.”

Norman was stoked to find out Howell played in the City Conference at the same time as Trae Jefferson, who became a YouTube sensation with his ball-handling wizardry at Milwaukee Hamilton.

"Me and my friends back home, we used to watch him growing up," Norman said. "He was a smaller guy, this was when we were short and we didn’t think we were going to grow. We used to watch him all the time.

"I actually got to meet him going to one of C. Howell’s old-head games. I learned about a couple guys, I’ve met a couple of C. Howell’s friends and been around the inner city of Milwaukee a fair amount.”

Norman and Lowery learned that their new coach has a lot of respect around the city.

“He invited us over to his mom’s house one day and she had his highlights up on the TV on YouTube," Lowery said. "She’s like ‘Let me show you some clips of Chris when he was younger.’ So she pulled them up and we were watching them."

Chris Howell learned from Jim Gosz at Milwaukee King

Former Milwaukee King coach Jim Gosz always liked Howell's intangibles.

"I would hire him in a minute," Gosz said. "Just because of how loyal he is. He has a respect for the game. And he has a passion for the game.

"Anyone working with him, he’s not going to take any possessions off. He doesn’t cheat the game. I really enjoyed having him four years. He’s really fun to be around. Always laughing. Always smiling. In this day and age, those kids don’t come around like that."

Howell traces those attributes back to his family.

“My mom, my grandma," he said. "Just my upbringing. Always having a positive attitude and really just wanting to help people and stuff like that.

"It’s not always about you. Obviously you want good things to happen to yourself, but if you can help other people, then I just feel like you have a good heart.”

It was a learning process for Howell at King. Especially in a City Conference that was loaded with talent at the time, including future NBA players Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole, Howell's former King teammate.

“Playing varsity basketball as a sophomore and starting at Riverside," Howell said. "So rivalry game, I’m starting. Shomari and Bakari – the Triggs brothers for (Riverside). They had Big Phil (Nolan). So that was really good talent. Those games were amazing.”

Howell also had to learn his lessons off the court.

"Once I started playing varsity, I thought I got big-headed," Howell said. "My grades slipped a little bit. Those early days of high school, that’s the most important. Because if you get behind, it’s hard to get back out.

"My junior and senior year I ended up having good grades. But if I was able to qualify out of high school, I was going to go to (UW-) Green Bay. I was getting recruited by them pretty heavily. But I ended up going to Butler Junior College in Kansas. Just to make sure I qualify for the next level.”

There was a Milwaukee connection at Butler Junior College, with the Triggs brothers and former Pius XI standout Larry Fitzgerald playing there. Howell showed enough to land at South Dakota State, where he was coached by Milwaukee native T.J. Otzelberger.

Howell spent the 2018-19 season at Jackson State as a graduate transfer, averaging 12.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

"Being able to become a Division I player, that was really big for me personally," Howell said. "Just being able to continue my college aspirations and graduating."

Landing back in hometown with Shaka Smart

Howell got a master's degree at Jackson State and then went into coaching. He was at Hill Junior College in Texas when he heard about the opening at MU.

When Smart offered him the job, Gosz gave his old player some advice.

"I said ‘You got to be kidding me, Chris, run with this, this is unbelievable,' “ Gosz said. "That’s how doors open up. He could be in the middle of Iowa the rest of his life, but this could be his break.

"I hope he does well with it. I think the coaching staff down there would say the same things about him. It’s just his personality, loyalty and desire to be around good things.”

Howell takes Lowery and Norman to Wal-Mart and to church on Sundays if they have the day off. He's helped Norman develop an affinity for Culver's. But they mostly talk about basketball, hopes and dreams.

“I think the main thing is a couple weeks into being here, he picked us up and just took us around the city," Lowery said. "Where he grew up and stuff. I thought it was pretty cool just to see how different he grew up and how he came about the game.

"And then just inside basketball, we work out with him almost every day. If we have a day off, we’ll be in here with him either before or after we lift."

The comfort level is showing on the court for Lowery and Norman. They've seen more minutes in recent games, with Lowery showing his potential as a "three-and-D" wing and Norman as an aggressive guard.

"Now I’m getting in the game, playing defense against the best player on the other team," Lowery said. "I’m way more comfortable because my teammates kind of helped me get to that point, that stage of where I need to be.”

Seeing the growth of the freshmen, including big men Caiden Hamilton and Al Amadou, has made Howell sure that he picked the right path, even though it was a winding one that led him back to his hometown.

"Just keep standing with them, making sure they’re solid," Howell said. "Really just good overall as a human.

"Because basketball is one thing, but outside of basketball just making sure they’re good. That really pushes me to keep going. And just seeing the success of the next generation, that really drives me, honestly.”