Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Will we even recognize Matt Howard anymore?

Dude. Matt Howard ditched the ‘stache. This dude is a little bummed.

Butler’s center became a mini-sensation during the Bulldogs’ run to the NCAA tournament title game thanks to three things: His dogged performances against bigger foes, his perpetual foul trouble, and one of the sweetest mustaches college hoops has seen since Adam Morrison.

Image (2) spt-100723-matt-howard.standard.jpg for post 124

Jeff Haynes/Reuters

Don’t be skeptical. How many grooming decisions get a Facebook page?

Well, Howard’s starting to think about life after basketball. He’ll be a senior this season and the finance major thought it was time to ditch the ‘stache and long hair.

“If you looked the way I did that last game, I don’t know if I’d condone anyone walking into an internship or a job like that,’' Howard told Rivals.com. “I had to make some changes.”

It’s not just the grooming, either. Howard’s determined to solve his foul issues. He fouled out of nine games last season and picked up four fouls in 13 other games. During the Bulldogs’ magical March, he played just 20 minutes in the Elite Eight vs. Kansas State, 15 vs. Michigan State in the Final Four and 19 against Duke.

“Evidently, I lack smarts in that category,” Howard told Rivals.com. “It is what it is. Instead of maybe picking up something stupid -- which has happened from time to time -- I’ve got to play more under control and maybe let something go once in a while. It’s basically all mental.

“It’s not something you can sit there and really practice, [but] a little bit of it you can practice. Maybe I got there a little late and a charge is a block. Maybe the next time down, you’re just in the wrong place in the wrong time. ... It’s just little things that can pile up.”

Gotta give the former Horizon League player of the year some credit. Not everyone’s willing to change senior year.

Mike Miller’s also on Twitter @BeyndArcMMiller, usually talkin’ hoops. Click here for more.