UNT Dallas

Josh Howard enters his sixth season at the helm of the UNT-Dallas men’s basketball program, beginning the program during the 2020-21 season. In four seasons, Howard has guided the startup program as part of the NAIA and Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC). In 2024-25, Howard guided the squad to a historic 13 wins and 10 conference wins and second SAC Tournament appearance.
 
In the spring of 2025, Howard was officially named Director of Athletics and begins serving in that capacity, too. Howard remains the longest tenured member of the Trailblazers staff and only one to have been part of the department since the inaugural year.
 
Howard has helped produce several award winners that received SAC honors over the past few years, headlined by Vernon Johnson with 2021-22 All-Sooner Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and on the All-Freshman Team that season. Johnson is a four-year SAC All-Conference recipient and is the only Trailblazer to play each season with the program. Howard also had Jules Moor named to All-SAC First Team in 2022-23, and Greg Crawford notched All-SAC Second Team in 2024-25 after being the only player in the league to average double figures in scoring and rebounds. He led the conference in rebounds and free throws.
 
The basketball pedigree of Trailblazers men’s coach, Josh Howard, is, from his schoolboy days to college and professional stardom, filled with superlatives.  A former first round selection of the NBA Dallas Mavericks in 2003, he was a vital member of the Mavs team that reached the 2006 NBA finals. After seven seasons with Dallas, he finished his pro career with the Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves.
 
A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was an All-State selection while attending Glenn High School in Kernersville, N.C., and twice received the Frank Spencer Award given annually to the top prep player in Northwest North Carolina.  He spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., before receiving a scholarship to Wake Forest.  There, he was a consensus All-America selection and the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2003 as he led the Demons to their first outright conference championship in 41 years. Not only did he average 19.5 points per game as a collegian but also became the first member of his family to earn a degree.
 
He was invited to training camp with the U.S. Olympic team prior to the 2008 Games but turned down the offer, choosing instead to return to Winston-Salem and oversee his annual youth camp. Howard is also involved in Elevate, a leadership program for young men. In 2016, Howard launched his coaching career at Piedmont International University in his hometown Winston-Salem and had a 49-49 record in four seasons.