STATESBORO, Ga. — Anita Howard just finished her first year as the head coach of Georgia Southern’s women's basketball team. It wasn’t the the season she hoped for, but she says it is definitely something to build on.
“We did go from the bottom of the conference to the middle of the conference and making the tournament,” explains Howard. “We broke a lot of records in one year, turning the program around. Although our record wasn’t where I wanted it to be, we did a lot of firsts, and now we are competing.”
Competing on and off the basketball court, that also goes for changing the culture. Howard is a huge advocate for bridging the gap between player and coach, and not just for basketball, but throughout the athletic department. The vision came to her in the middle of a meeting and the plan would soon be underway.
“Somebody’s phone went off and the music was playing, and I started dancing and I said, 'It’s Turn-Up Tuesday,' and so I was like, 'Let’s do that!' and 'Turn-Up Tuesday' was born,” says Howard.
All across the athletic department, Tuesdays became the day to “turn up,” boosting morale and inspiring Eagle Nation to follow suit.
“It started growing wings,” says Howard. “We actually did the 'Turn-Up Tuesday' at one of the nursing homes where they did the YMCA dance. We had a teacher out of Atlanta do a 'Turn-Up Tuesday' in her PE class and they sent it to us.”
These days, even though campus is bare, Howard says they are motivating their student athletes in other ways.
“It’s the mental part of letting the players know that we care, we’re working on that part of the basketball side of things,” says Howard. ”Although it’s unsettling times, it’s a good time to get to know each other on a more deeper level. 'How are we going to come out of this pandemic better?' and that’s what we’re trying to keep our players' minds set on.”
If Coach Howard looks familiar, that’s because she played college basketball at Fort Valley State under Georgia Hall of Fame coach Lonnie Bartley in the early 2000s.
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