The Nova Notebook features Wildcats' Assistant Coach Ashley Howard as he settles back into his role after a five-year hiatus from Villanova that included a four-year stint as head coach at La Salle University.
 
Seated in a chair at his desk in the Davis Center on a recent June morning, Ashley Howard smiled as he reflected on a basketball journey that first brought him to Villanova a decade ago to work for then coach Jay Wright.
 
"I left right after we won the national championship in 2018," he stated. "So, I never had the chance to recruit to a program that had won two national championships in three years. Now, I do."
 
The son of Maurice Howard, who starred at the University of Maryland on powerhouse teams in the mid-1970s, Ashley Howard is a Philadelphia native who first came to Villanova in 2013 after coaching stops serving as an aide at Drexel, La Salle and Xavier. His arrival – alongside another new hire, Kyle Neptune – coincided with the start of a remarkable run of success that would ultimately cover nine seasons and include a pair of NCAA titles, another NCAA Final Four run and multiple BIG EAST crowns.
 
The Wildcats won 165 games during Howard's first stint on staff (2013-18) and sent an assembly line of standouts to the National Basketball Association, including Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Ryan Arcidiacono, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo.
 
"It was incredible," Howard states now of that period. "It was a testament to the people. We had great leadership under Coach Wright, obviously, but we had some talented, hardworking, dedicated players that valued being a part of something bigger than themselves. I know that it sounds like a cliché, but everyone was willing to make certain sacrifices so that we could experience the success that we had as a program.
 
"There are a lot of things you can learn from that time. It wasn't always perfect. There were challenges and obstacles, but our guys always responded the right way. What I learned from it is that whatever you go through, your attitude is all you can control."
 
Howard went from an NCAA national championship parade down Market Street with the Wildcats to his first head coaching assignment on Olney Avenue in a matter of days. In 2019-20 the Explorers appeared on the cusp of a breakthrough, posting 15 wins, before the COVID pandemic shut sports down. Recapturing that momentum proved elusive and he parted ways with the school at the conclusion of the 2021-22 campaign.
 
In 2022-23, the coaching veteran sampled basketball life from new vantage points. He observed preseason workouts at a variety of programs, including Villanova. There was more time at home with wife Arianna, daughter Journey, and son Ace. His first foray into television work saw him serve as an analyst for select Delaware Blue Coats contests. Most notably, he teamed up with Wildcats' legend Randy Foye to help get the Friends of Nova NIL Collective up and running. As part of that work, he attended multiple Villanova home games last season.
 
"I enjoyed working with the collective," Howard stated. "I also had the opportunity to do some broadcasting for the Blue Coats. That was different, and enjoyable."
 
Neither professional experience, however, matched the rewards he found in coaching. Howard found himself yearning to again be seated near the front of a chartered team bus late into a dark night, savoring a road victory while reviewing the game tape on a laptop.
 
"There's nothing like that feeling of preparing and competing with a group of people," he said. "I missed it."
 
The move back to Villanova was natural for a lot of reasons. There was a void with the departure of longtime staff member George Halcovage to become the head coach at Buffalo in late March. Howard worked alongside Neptune throughout his first stint at VU and the pair remained close even when competing against one another as Atlantic Ten head coaches in 2021-22 when Howard led the Explorers while Neptune took the helm at Fordham.
 
"Kyle and I came in together," Howard noted. "We put a lot of work in, side by side – recruiting, preparing, developing our players. We became very close. I respect him a great deal. I think he's a great young coach. He knows Villanova and has the blueprint for success here. I'm excited to help our staff build the program in this new generation."
 
There are a range of qualities Howard believes make Neptune such a good fit in this role.
 
"One of the things I have always respected about Kyle," Howard said, "is that he is humble and an unbelievable learner. He asks a lot of questions and listens to the answers. That's one of the things I admire most about him.
 
"This is a tremendous staff to be a part of. Mike Nardi and Dwayne Anderson were great players in this program who are now great young coaches. Joey Flannery and Rob DePersia worked for Coach Wright and now for Kyle. They understand the culture we have here and the values that support it."
 
For all that has changed in college basketball – especially over the past 18 months in the aftermath of Name, Image, Likeness, and the vibrant transfer portal – there are some basic elements that remain the same in Howard's view.
 
"This is a relationship business, obviously," he said. "I think we've done a good job of using our relationships in the northeast corridor in recruiting. We have a great location, a great recruiting base and those are the products of relationships we have built over time. We continue to pour into those relationships and foster new relationships as the landscape changes.
 
"Even with those changes in grassroots basketball, I think people know that the Villanova brand is very strong in college basketball. It represents excellence, on the court and in the classroom. We take pride in developing great young people. I think there are a lot of families that still value that. None of that has changed."
 
The Wildcats have officially added four transfers in recent weeks: TJ Bamba (Washington State), Tyler Burton (Richmond), Hakim Hart (Maryland) and Lance Ware (Kentucky). They join a roster anchored by returnees Justin Moore and Eric Dixon, both of whom have All-BIG EAST and all Philadelphia Big Five honors in their biographies. Mark Armstrong was named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman team a season ago.
 
Summer team workouts began last week and Howard admits that standing back on the Davis Center court in those sessions brought a smile to his face.
 
"It is good to be back," Howard states. "It's a little different, but exciting. We have guys that are eager to learn. They're hungry. When I came here before, I was new to all this, learning it on the fly. This time I understand the details and what we really value here.
 
"It's been a year, but I was excited to be back on the court. I'm going to keep that enthusiasm going, to give the guys a lot of positive energy and reinforcement so that they can develop to the best of their abilities."