(KMAland) -- The latest KMA Sports Hall of Fame announcement heads to Shenandoah and honors one of the most prolific scorers in school history.
A two-time All-State choice in the mid-1960s, Denny Howard was the school’s all-time leading scorer for over 50 years.
“My parents started me out at the age of four when they opened the sporting goods store,” Howard told KMA Sports. “While I was young, I was interested in sports and always had a bat or a ball or whatever I needed from the store.”
During the 1960s, Shenandoah was one of the most competitive teams in the Hawkeye Seven Conference. And behind the success was the smooth jump shot of Howard, who was the first sophomore to be named all-conference.
“We had a great conference,” Howard said. “It was tough competition, and there was only one class in Iowa at the time so you played against Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln from Council Bluffs throughout the tournament series. You had to bring your ‘A’ game every night, or you would be in trouble.”
Earning All-State honors in 1964 and 1965, Howard is one of just two Shenandoah basketball athletes to be named an all-stater twice. By the end of his career, he was the first three-time All-Hawkeye Seven player.
“There were only five or six players on the team in those days,” he said. “It’s one of the things I’m most proud of, and it was quite an honor to be honored among those outstanding athletes.”
Howard left Shenandoah as the school’s all-time leading scorer, and it’s a record that stood for over 50 years.
From Shenandoah, Howard earned a Division I scholarship from Colorado State in Fort Collins.
“We had 11 full ride scholarships on the freshman team,” Howard said of his time at Colorado State. “One magazine had us listed as the No. 2 freshman team in the country behind UCLA with Lew Alcindor.”
As a sophomore, Howard redshirted and had a chance to practice against several future NBA players at the school. During his junior year at the school, Howard estimates he was the 10th man.
“I didn’t see a lot of time,” he said, “but I did see action in a few games. I actually got to guard Tiny Archibald when Texas Western came to Fort Collins. They were well in command of the game, and our coach emptied the bench. I got in, and Tiny was still in for some reason. I tell people I held him scoreless, but he didn’t really try to score.”
After his junior year at Colorado State, Howard decided to use his final two years of eligibility at Tarkio College in Missouri.
“That was a good move for me,” he added. “We had a real good year my junior year. I was glad I could still play, but then my senior year I tore up my knee and only played half the season.”
Howard, who took over his parent’s sporting goods store and ran it through October 2020, also starred in baseball and was on the track team during his time at Shenandoah. He joins Van Brownson, Missy (Buttry) Rock, Alex (Curry) Philipps, Brooke (Graham) Penn, Bob Livingston, Tyler McGinnis, Todd Millikan and Serena Parker as former athletes from Shenandoah and former coach Ray Graves in the KMA Sports Hall of Fame. The Shenandoah-Essex 1989 boys cross country champions and the 2000 and 2001 state baseball qualifiers have also been honored in past classes.
Howard and the rest of the 2022 KMA Sports Hall of Fame class will be honored on Saturday, October 22nd at Shenandoah’s Gladys Wirsig-Jones Auditorium. Listen to the full interview with Howard below.
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