Report: Southern Illinois hires former Texas, Kansas assistant Jerrance Howard as a coach

Southern Illinois has hired former Texas, Kansas and Illinois assistant coach Jerrance Howard as the team’s new assistant coach, according to a report from college basketball insider Jeff Goodman.

Howard was last an assistant coach for the Longhorns during the 2021-22 season. He was previously at Kansas before that from 2013-2021.

He did not coach this past season.

A native of Peoria, Ill., Howard played college basketball at Illinois from 2000-04, the first three seasons under Bill Self. Howard and Self would later reunite at Kansas. Despite being a bench player for the Fighting Illini, Howard was named a team captain as a junior and a senior.

His first assistant coaching job was with his alma mater, and he coached the program for five seasons. Howard then spent a year coaching with SMU under Larry Brown before moving to Lawrence, Kan.

Southern Illinois is hiring former Kansas and Texas assistant Jerrance Howard, source told @stadium. Howard was also an assistant and played at Illinois, and is considered one of the top recruiters in the midwest.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 19, 2023

Jerrance Howard joins a program on the rise

Southern Illinois has been an ascending team over the last few years in the Missouri Valley Conference under head coach Bryan Mullins.

Mullins, who is an alum of the school and played for the program from 2005-2009, just completed his fourth season with the team.

The Sulukis have not made the NCAA Tournament since the 2006-07 season when they made the Sweet 16 as a No. 4 seed in the Big Dance.

But Mullins just coached the team to a 23-10 record, the best mark since that season 16 years ago. The team also went 14-6 in conference play to tie for the third-best record in the Missouri Valley.

Southern Illinois is a surprising hotbed for coaching talent over the last few decades. Bruce Weber coached the Sulukis before being hired at Illinois — where he coached Jerrance Howard during his senior season.

Matt Painter then took over as head coach of Southern Illinois for a season before returning to his alma mater, Purdue, as an assistant coach. One year later, Painter was promoted to head coach of the Boilermakers.

Chris Lowery then coached the Sulukis for eight years before being fired. Weber then hired him for his staff at Kansas State. Lowery is now at Northwestern, where he won the first-ever Big Ten Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year Award.