WEST LIBERTY - West Liberty University men's basketball coach Jim Crutchfield has officially announced the hiring of former Hilltoppers standout Ben Howlett as his new assistant coach.
Howlett, a 2009 WLU graduate, will replace long-time assistant Eric Bovaird at Crutchfield's side for the 2011-12 season. Bovaird was recently hired as head coach at NCAA Division II Chaminade University.
''We're very pleased to welcome Ben back to West Liberty,'' said Crutchfield, whose Hilltoppers are coming off a 33-1 season that included a No. 1 national ranking, a second consecutive West Virginia Conference title and the school's first trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
''Not only was Ben an outstanding player in our system, he made a very strong impression during the year he spent with us as a student assistant following his playing career. He's a very intelligent and enthusiastic young man who loves the game. I think he has a great future in our profession.''
A native of Marietta, Ohio, Howlett played on four consecutive 20-victory teams under Crutchfield from 2005-09, averaging more than 20 points a game each of his final two seasons.
The mercurial 6-foot-0 guard was a second team All-WVIAC selection following his junior season after ranking among the league leaders with a 20.1 ppg. scoring average but he saved his best for last.
Howlett emerged as the fourth-leading NCAA Division II scorer in the nation (23.0 ppg.) as a senior and also ranked among the top 20 nationally in field-goal percentage at 61.1 percent. He was a first team All-WVIAC selection and also earned second team NCAA Division II All-Atlantic Region honors.
Howlett finished his career ranked No. 11 on West Liberty's scoring list with 1,663 points and is No. 2 all-time in field goal percentage, blistering the cords at a 58.9-percent clip throughout his career.
He remained on campus as a student assistant coach for the 2009-10 season before spending the 2010-11 season as an assistant coach at fellow West Virginia Conference member Ohio Valley University.
''I can't tell you how excited I am about this opportunity,'' Howlett said. ''I really want to pursue a career in coaching and I can't imagine a better mentor than Coach Crutchfield. He's done a phenomenal job of turning this program around. I was very proud to be part of that turnaround as a player, and I'll be working as hard as I can as a coach to help him keep building on that foundation of success.''
West Liberty is scheduled to tip off the 2011-12 season Nov. 12 at the Wolf Bus Lines Classic, played host to by Shippensburg (Pa.) University.