As he treks through the coaching facility at the Ubben Basketball Complex, Jerrance Howard belts a riff from the 1960s Troggs hit, “Wild Thing” before entering his office.

Inside the room, BET’s “106th & Park” is muted on his television set. He takes a seat at a desk spread with papers, his cell phone and a partially eaten meal. It’s a room Howard has grown comfortable in since his hiring two weeks ago as the basketball team’s new assistant coach. In fact, it’s practically a second home.

“I’ve been living up here since Thursday,” Howard said, laughing. “And I never go to sleep.”

Howard, 27, has been thrust into the position following the surprise resignation of Tracy Webster and subsequent joining of Billy Gillispie’s staff at Kentucky two weeks ago. Howard navigated through interviews and sold the coaching staff on his passion for the school and his desire to help the program succeed. Now, he’s just getting used to his surroundings. But this isn’t the first time he’s been here.

His office walls are lined with photos from his Illinois playing days – mostly of former teammates, one of Deron Williams. He stands in front of it, blocking the majority of the picture, and calls it “his favorite.”

From 2001-04, Howard was a staple member of the Illinois basketball team, a piece that held all the other pieces together, but rarely felt the spotlight. During head coach Bruce Weber’s first season in 2003, there were individuals who believed Howard to be the team’s MVP for bridging the gap between a new coaching staff and a budding group of players. He instead walked away with the team’s Kenny Battle award for an Illini who earns the respect of his teammates through a good work ethic in games and practice each day.

“Everybody knew when I was playing that I could coach someday,” Howard said. “You can read in so many stories from when I was a player – I bleed orange and blue. This is home. No matter where I’ve been or where I go, this will always be home for me.”

He backed-up All-Americans Frank Williams, Deron Williams and Dee Brown in his collegiate career and scored only 58 points for the Illini in that time. The team made four NCAA Tournament appearances including Sweet 16 berths in 2002 and 2004. But Howard’s contribution went beyond anything he ever did on the court.

Former players and current Illini alike have nothing but good things to say about their former teammate. Brian Randle, though, hit on the specifics that set Howard apart as a player.

“He was like a mediator, almost like a player-coach,'” Randle told the Associated Press. “He would talk to us as a teammate and a peer. At the same time, he was able to go to coach Weber to relay information and receive information. … That was his leadership role. He did it well.”

Howard will attempt to pick up where he left off, bridging communication between players and coaches. Over the last three years at Texas A&M; and Kentucky, Howard ran checks on players’ classes and helped them deal with problems at home and at school.

This year, though, Howard will be juggling never-ending hours on the recruiting trail and bracing the given pressures of coaching at a big program like Illinois for the first time.

“High expectations and pressure come along with it, with any elite programs,” Howard said. “Pressure is good. I like it. It motivates me and makes me work harder, concentrate harder. It’ll always be like that no matter how many championships you win or what players you sign.”

With a loyal family by his side, including new wife Jessica of three months and his mother who’s “always been there,” Howard hopes to tackle the long list of responsibilities. He says he’s ready.

“I’ve just been blessed and I’m fortunate if there were a hundred people trying to get this position,” Howard said. “This just tells you the loyalty of Illinois basketball. I’m just fortunate and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”

The road

Howard’s road to coaching began during his senior year at Illinois when he says then-assistant coach Gillispie offered him a job after practice.

“I’ll never forget after practice he called me over and told me, ‘Jerrance, if I ever get a chance to be a head coach, I’m going to hire you,'” Howard said. “And he did. He stuck with his word.”

For the next three-plus years, Howard followed Gillispie to Texas A&M; and then to Kentucky when Gillispie took over in April after Tubby Smith left. In his first year at Texas in 2004, the team rebounded from an 0-17 in-conference record to make an NIT appearance in the postseason with an 8-8 Big 12 record. Two years later, the team made it into the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament, where only a loss to Memphis kept them out of the Elite Eight.

Howard said it wasn’t hard to leave Kentucky for Illinois when he was offered the job, but leaving Gillispie had its challenges. Howard hopes all the time he spent learning from Gillispie helped build on aspects of his personality that made him an attractive recruit in high school. Someday, he hopes the experience will pay off in a head coaching position.

But not before he’s ready.

“I definitely would love to be a head coach one day. But I’m a long way from that,” Howard said. “I have a lot to learn and I’m still growing everyday.”

As Howard climbs up the coaching ladder, he’ll attempt to balance his duties as a coach with his new role as a husband. About three months ago, Howard married wife Jessica, who also attended the University. Former Illini now L.A. Laker Brian Cook was his best man.

“She definitely understands and respects what I’m trying to do, what I need to do and the work I need to put in; I couldn’t do it without her,” Howard said. “I wouldn’t have married her if I thought she wouldn’t respect my dreams and my goals as a coach.

“At the same time, it’s hard going home, trying to be a husband instead of a coach. I’m a coach 24/7, 365 days a year, but I have to make sure she’s alright and the family’s good because they’re the ones that hold you up.”

The recruiting war

Ideally, Howard would be able to revamp a pipeline to Chicago-area recruits that has yielded few results in recent years. Recently, in-state talents Jon Scheyer, Derrick Rose and Julian Wright, to name a few, have declined advances by Illinois for other programs. Concerns over the hire of Howard extended from the belief that he may not change that culture. Illinois doesn’t have any commitments from the 2008 class.

“(Jerrance) loves to talk. He has that charisma, that contagious personality,” said Weber after Howard’s hiring. “He’s a pied piper not only with the recruiting but with our guys. He’s a young guy that can listen, and I think that’s going to benefit us in the long run.”

Howard said he’s already working the phones and is ready to do anything and everything in his power to bring in-state talent to Illinois.

“All I’ve been doing since I was a player is recruiting,” he said. “Anytime any player, no matter where I’ve been, has come on campus, I made sure they had a good time and I showed them the ins and outs of the facility.

“Here, I get the opportunity to go on the road and establish that personal relationship before they get to campus. It’s going to be hard and it’s going to take a little time. But I think we’re going to get it done at the end of the day.”

Howard said one reason he’ll be successful is his ability to connect to players on a personal level, creating an environment of mutual respect.

“I still listen to the same music I did when I played. I still wear the same clothes. I’m still young and I can relate to these young guys,” Howard said. “Recruiting is just developing those relationships, staying consistent and being real and honest with them.

“Whether it’s a high school coach, an AAU coach or just a guy in the city who knows the streets, the ins and outs – he’s just as important as anybody. And you need to listen.”

No team in college basketball has won more games than the Illini the last four seasons. And despite the academic ineligibility of 2007 recruit Quinton Watkins and the legal hassles of Jamar Smith, Howard believes the program isn’t far off from where it was a few years ago and has numerous selling points. He’s ready to see Illinois make that leap back to the Final Four or better.

“I mean, we’re not far off,” he said. “We’ve got great players and a great staff and a great program. When you look at what we’ve done the last four years, I don’t think we’re struggling. But we definitely have to get recruits in.”

Just the beginning

At practice one week ago, Howard stood center court clapping, encouraging defenders in team drills. When they responded, his shouts of “Good D,” and “Keep on ’em,” filled the gym until it was all anyone could hear. When they didn’t, and results were less than desired, he pulled players aside and spoke to them about it. That’s when, Howard said, he has the opportunity to be more than a coach.

“Anybody can be there for a player when they’re having double-doubles and great games all the time,” Howard said. “But if things aren’t going well at practice, in games, or there are family problems at home, that’s when I want to be there. When you make a kid a better person, that’s when they become better basketball players.”

He knew he’d be back to Illinois, but he just didn’t know when. The smiles now, and the emotions he felt driving into Champaign, walking the Quad and seeing Assembly Hall again let him know he was home.

Still sitting at his desk, Howard thinks back to when he’d been in this office before, years earlier. He’s come full circle now. But he’s not close to being finished.

“I used to come in and get chewed out in this same office,” Howard said with a laugh. “The feeling of being back, everything about it, it’s great. It’s so great.”