Leon Howard, Class of 1959, excelled in sports at NFA. He participated in basketball, football and baseball and was named Class Athlete. He was inducted into the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the NFA Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Leon attended Johnson C. Smith University, where he majored in physical education. He eventually applied for a position in Baltimore where he continued to hone his basketball and community skills at the Lafayette Recreation Center.

Leon was considered the dean of the Baltimore Neighborhood Basketball League coaches.

He encouraged his players to study hard; to always be proud of their community; to play hard and to use some ingenuity in their studies on and off the basketball court.

Under Howard’s guidance, he touched the lives of over 80 basketball players who went on to be named All-City, All-MSA, All-Metro and All-State.

To name a few:

Reggie Williams, high school Player of the Year, led Georgetown University to its first NCAA championship and was drafted fourth by the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers; Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, All-ACC, drafted 12th by the Washington Bullets, shortest player to ever be drafted (5 feet, 3 inches) and played 14 seasons in the NBA before serving as head coach to now-defunct Charlotte Sting of WNBA; Sam Cassell, drafted 24th by NBA’s Houston Rockets, has won two NBA championships and is an NBA assistant coach.

On Sept. 4, signage was placed on the corner of Asquith and Orleans Street facing out towards Orleans, in Baltimore, which will be forever known as “Mr. Leon Howard Way.”

Tommy Winston, Timothy Greene, Donnie Joy, James Conyer and others were instrumental in planning this honor.

T-shirts created by Harry Chappell, owner of All Points Graphics, depict a photo of Leon, street sign, School No. 116 Historical Landmark with the Lafayette Housing Project in the background.

Speakers at the unveiling spoke highly about Leon and what he meant to them:

Tommy Winston said, “We just want to honor him today because he’s a great man, he has provided for this community for many a year. He lifted all these young men up to be men. He touched their lives; he touched mine. He is the foundation of this community.”

Skip Wise thanked Howard for being “a father, a coach and a public servant; serving the community and doing whatever was possible; and he made it happen.”

Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues said, “Words can’t describe what this man means to me. For a man to come into our lives, while we were so young; he has mentored us and changed the trajectory of our entire lives. He has been a father, a mentor; without him there would have been no me. When I made history, he made history. Grateful to have him in my life.”

Roberta J. Vincent of New London is president of the St. Anthony Chapel Foundation. She is also member of the Norwich Arts Center Board, NFA Alumni Board and Norwich Lions. Your Turn is a chance for readers to submit photos and stories. To contribute, email times@theday.com.