University of Delaware Athletics
Women’s 50th Profile: Sharon Howett ’78, Women’s Basketball/Women’s Tennis
5/19/2020 10:08:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Women's Tennis, Delaware Athletics
Balancing two sports as a Division I student-athlete is no easy feat, but Sharon Howett '78 did so with ease, dominating on both the basketball and tennis courts for the University of Delaware.
Growing up in New Holland, Pa. during an era in which many did not support girls playing sports, Howett's parents didn't discourage her and her two sisters from competing and utilizing their athletic skills. They could often be found running, playing football in the front yard, shooting hoops down the street at the playground, throwing a softball against the garage wall or hitting the tennis ball on their school's black-top court.
Basketball was her first love, but she also played field hockey and tennis at Garden Spot High School. Her school had a fair number of sports compared to the other local schools, but unfortunately for the Baltimore Orioles and baseball fan, softball was not one of those.
When it was time for her to choose where she wanted to go to further her education, there were a variety of colleges on her list that were in her home state of Pennsylvania. Howett visited a university in the Pittsburgh area, but when she made trips there in early spring of her junior year of high school, and then later that year in November, the snow proved to be a turn-off.
"It was snowing both times when we visited," recalled Howett. "And I just thought, 'no, no, no, how can I play tennis with snow on the ground?'"
She continued to search for schools that were in relative proximity to her home in Lancaster County and eventually decided to attend the University of Delaware.
Howett knew she wanted to play basketball and then saw something on campus about tennis, where she then tried out for that team as well. Fortunately, tennis was a fall sport that ended in November, while basketball typically didn't have its first game until late January.
Howett acknowledges that with the way schedules and demands are now, there's no way she'd be able to balance two sports if she were a current student-athlete.
"I had fun playing a variety of sports growing up and for people to have to make a choice, that's a difficult thing," she commented. "I think you get different things out of different sports, but it worked out then because tennis and basketball never really overlapped."
With a shy personality, being a two-sport student-athlete also helped Howett grow and meet more people.
Her personality also thrived under the tutelage of fellow UD Athletics Hall of Famer Mary Ann Hitchens, who's coaching style was calm and mellow.
"Coach Hitchens never yelled. I only saw her get mad once and that's when she broke a pencil at halftime," noted Howett. "That was it and that worked for me."
Howett continued, "She put together very competitive teams. Recruiting was nothing like what it is now. Things changed year-to-year based on who you had as talent, and you had to change how you played depending on who your players were. In today's world, I think the advantage college coaches have with recruiting is that if they want their team to play a certain way, they go out and find players that fit that style rather than changing your style a little bit to fit who you have."
One of the trailblazers for women's athletics at Delaware, Howett's name is still amongst the best of the best in Delaware women's basketball and women's tennis histories more than 40 years later.
"It's real neat to have made an impact as that was never my goal. Basketball is a team sport and I've always looked at it that way," she said. "It's very humbling to still have some of that [the records and acknowledgement] there because I've seen a lot of talented players come through."
Howett was the first Blue Hen to log 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds and is still only one of three ever to achieve that milestone. She also held Delaware's career rebounding record with 1,009 before Colleen McNamara broke the mark nearly 20 years later.
A three-time team captain, she finished her tennis career with 33 singles wins, an impressive mark during that era.
A 1978 graduate with a degree in accounting, Howett helped guide the women's basketball team to 45 victories (.634) while leading the tennis team to 27 team wins (.659).
After a long career at DuPont and then a small pharmaceutical company, Howett retired just south of Myrtle Beach, S.C., in Murrells Inlet with her two dogs. She remained active throughout her adult years by playing in tennis, basketball, volleyball and softball leagues. After a torn rotator cuff sidelined her, she continues to stay active by playing golf and walking and also does some part-time work doing taxes.
Growing up in New Holland, Pa. during an era in which many did not support girls playing sports, Howett's parents didn't discourage her and her two sisters from competing and utilizing their athletic skills. They could often be found running, playing football in the front yard, shooting hoops down the street at the playground, throwing a softball against the garage wall or hitting the tennis ball on their school's black-top court.
Basketball was her first love, but she also played field hockey and tennis at Garden Spot High School. Her school had a fair number of sports compared to the other local schools, but unfortunately for the Baltimore Orioles and baseball fan, softball was not one of those.
When it was time for her to choose where she wanted to go to further her education, there were a variety of colleges on her list that were in her home state of Pennsylvania. Howett visited a university in the Pittsburgh area, but when she made trips there in early spring of her junior year of high school, and then later that year in November, the snow proved to be a turn-off.
"It was snowing both times when we visited," recalled Howett. "And I just thought, 'no, no, no, how can I play tennis with snow on the ground?'"
She continued to search for schools that were in relative proximity to her home in Lancaster County and eventually decided to attend the University of Delaware.Howett knew she wanted to play basketball and then saw something on campus about tennis, where she then tried out for that team as well. Fortunately, tennis was a fall sport that ended in November, while basketball typically didn't have its first game until late January.
Howett acknowledges that with the way schedules and demands are now, there's no way she'd be able to balance two sports if she were a current student-athlete.
"I had fun playing a variety of sports growing up and for people to have to make a choice, that's a difficult thing," she commented. "I think you get different things out of different sports, but it worked out then because tennis and basketball never really overlapped."
With a shy personality, being a two-sport student-athlete also helped Howett grow and meet more people.
Her personality also thrived under the tutelage of fellow UD Athletics Hall of Famer Mary Ann Hitchens, who's coaching style was calm and mellow.
"Coach Hitchens never yelled. I only saw her get mad once and that's when she broke a pencil at halftime," noted Howett. "That was it and that worked for me."
Howett continued, "She put together very competitive teams. Recruiting was nothing like what it is now. Things changed year-to-year based on who you had as talent, and you had to change how you played depending on who your players were. In today's world, I think the advantage college coaches have with recruiting is that if they want their team to play a certain way, they go out and find players that fit that style rather than changing your style a little bit to fit who you have."
One of the trailblazers for women's athletics at Delaware, Howett's name is still amongst the best of the best in Delaware women's basketball and women's tennis histories more than 40 years later.
"It's real neat to have made an impact as that was never my goal. Basketball is a team sport and I've always looked at it that way," she said. "It's very humbling to still have some of that [the records and acknowledgement] there because I've seen a lot of talented players come through."
Howett was the first Blue Hen to log 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds and is still only one of three ever to achieve that milestone. She also held Delaware's career rebounding record with 1,009 before Colleen McNamara broke the mark nearly 20 years later.
A three-time team captain, she finished her tennis career with 33 singles wins, an impressive mark during that era.
A 1978 graduate with a degree in accounting, Howett helped guide the women's basketball team to 45 victories (.634) while leading the tennis team to 27 team wins (.659).
After a long career at DuPont and then a small pharmaceutical company, Howett retired just south of Myrtle Beach, S.C., in Murrells Inlet with her two dogs. She remained active throughout her adult years by playing in tennis, basketball, volleyball and softball leagues. After a torn rotator cuff sidelined her, she continues to stay active by playing golf and walking and also does some part-time work doing taxes.
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