Ben Howlett (basketball)
American basketball coach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ben Howlett is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the IU Indy Jaguars. He was formerly the coach of the West Liberty Hilltoppers men's basketball team.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | IU Indy |
| Conference | Horizon League |
| Record | 7–25 (.219) |
| Playing career | |
| 2005–2009 | West Liberty |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2009–2010 | West Liberty (student assistant) |
| 2010–2011 | Ohio Valley (assistant) |
| 2011–2017 | West Liberty (assistant) |
| 2017–2025 | West Liberty |
| 2025–present | IU Indy |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 224–62 (.783) |
| Tournaments | 17–7 (NCAA Division II) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
Early life and playing career
Howlett grew up in Marietta, Ohio and attended Marietta High School.[1] He played college basketball for the West Liberty Hilltoppers and averaged 23 points per game as a senior.[2] Howlett scored 1,663 points during his college career.[3]
Coaching career
Howlett began his coaching career as a student assistant for West Liberty following his senior season in 2009. He spent the 2010–2011 season as an assistant for the Ohio Valley University Fighting Scots. Howlett returned to West Liberty as an assistant the following season after being offered a position from his former coach, Jim Crutchfield.[4]
Howlett was hired as the head coach at West Liberty on March 28, 2017, after Crutchfield resigned to take the head coaching position at Nova Southeastern.[5] Howlett won the Mountain East Conference regular season championship in each of his eight seasons as head coach of the Hilltoppers and compiled a record of 217-37.[6]
Howlett was hired as the head coach of IU Indy on May 27, 2025.[7]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Liberty (Mountain East Conference) (2017–2025) | |||||||||
| 2017–18 | West Liberty | 26–4 | 20–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II First Round | ||||
| 2018–19 | West Liberty | 28–5 | 20–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2019–20 | West Liberty | 27–4 | 19–3 | 1st | No postseason held | ||||
| 2020–21 | West Liberty | 18–5 | 13–3 | NCAA Division II Elite Eight | |||||
| 2021–22 | West Liberty | 29–3 | 20–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II First Round | ||||
| 2022–23 | West Liberty | 33–4 | 20–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Runner-up | ||||
| 2023–24 | West Liberty | 26–7 | 17–3 | T-1st | NCAA Division II Second Round | ||||
| 2024–25 | West Liberty | 30–5 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Elite Eight | ||||
| West Liberty: | 217–37 (.854) | 147–19 (.886) | |||||||
| IU Indy Jaguars (Horizon League) (2025–present) | |||||||||
| 2025–26 | IU Indy | 7–25 | 3–17 | 11th | |||||
| IU Indy: | 7–25 (.219) | 3–17 (.150) | |||||||
| Total: | 224–62 (.783) | ||||||||
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National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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