HOWARD INDUCTED INTO STETSON HALL OF FAME

Dave Howard is fairly modest when talking about his athletic career at Stetson University.

"I guess it was okay," he said.

But Stetson officials evidently believed Howard had more than just a fair four-year stint at the school located in DeLand, Fla. Last month, the longtime Cape Girardeau resident was inducted into the Stetson Sports Hall of Fame.

"I was very, very pleased with the honor, and it was quite an honor," said Howard. "It was really nice and it meant a lot to me."

Howard, who will turn 65 later this month, was a three-sport athlete at Stetson from 1953-57, lettering four seasons in basketball, three in golf and one in tennis.

In basketball, Howard led the 1956-57 team in scoring with 17 points per game, helping lead the Hatters to the NAIA national tournament, and was a two-time Florida Intercollegiate Conference selection. In golf, Howard was the squad's No. 2 player all three seasons.

As for his one season on the Stetson tennis team, Howard explained with a laugh, "They didn't have golf one year because they tore up the golf course, so I went out for tennis."

Howard, who is semi-retired and part owner of Howard's Athletic Goods store in Cape Girardeau, graduated from Cape Central High School, where he earned all-state basketball honors in 1953. He wound up at Stetson largely through the efforts of a local doctor.

"Dr. Mike Brogan, who was from Benton, was a friend of my dad and he knew another doctor in DeLand, who helped get me the scholarship," said Howard.

A 6-foot-2 guard, Howard said his role on the basketball court was primarily to shoot.

"I was strictly a shooter, because I wasn't fast, had small hands and wasn't a good jumper," he said, chuckling. "I wish they had the 3-point line back then."

Upon leaving Stetson, Howard entered the service and then returned to Cape to go into business with his father at Howard's Athletic Goods.

Howard, who said he won several local golf tournaments in the 1960s and still golfs fairly regularly, said the differences between when he played basketball and the game of today are very noticeable.

"The speed, the jumping ability, the strength and athleticism of the present ballplayers are far superior to what we were, plus there is a lot more size," he said.

But Howard noted that the Stetson teams he played on had two 6-9 centers, one who eventually used his size to form a notable acting career.

"Ted Cassidy, the center on our team who was 6-9 and 260 pounds, played Lerch on the old Addams Family television show," he said. "I was his roommate for half a semester. People get a kick out of it when I tell them that."