St. Aug Adds Two Women Basketball Assistants

St. Aug Adds Two Women Basketball Assistants

September 16, 2011
 
Saint Augustine’s College has officially announced the addition of Anita Griffin-Howard and Latoya Jones to the women’s basketball program.
 
Griffin-Howard joins the staff as assistant head coach/recruiting coordinator and Jones arrives as assistant coach. Both come with impressive resumes, according to Head Coach Rachel Bullard.

Griffin-Howard

Jones

"We have hired two exceptionally multi-talented women who bring a different look and feel to our program,” said Bullard, entering her second season. ”Coach Griffin-Howard will heighten our level of intensity on the defensive end and Coach Jones has a wealth of knowledge in strength and conditioning which will surely benefit our young ladies. We are ecstatic to have both women join the Falcon family.”
 
Griffin-Howard will work primarily with the guards and assist with defensive preparation. Prior to her arrival at St. Aug, Griffin-Howard was an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Shaw University during the 2010-11 season. She played a significant role in Shaw winning the CIAA conference title and the NCAA D-II Atlantic Regional crown in addition to reaching the national D-II semifinals.
 
She began her collegiate coaching career as a Division I assistant at Winston-Salem State University during the school's transition to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) from 2006 to 2008. Griffin-Howard left WSSU to become the director of intramurals at North Carolina A&T State University from 2008 to 2010.
 
Griffin-Howard started her coaching career at Savannah High School in Savannah, Ga., serving as the assistant girls varsity basketball coach and the head girls junior varsity coach from 2004 to 2006. She helped lead Savannah High School to its first Region 3AAAAA state playoff appearance in 25 years. In addition to her high school coaching duties, Griffin was the head coach of the Peach State Elite travel team where she instructed several all-state players during her AAU and Elite Team coaching tenure.
 
As a collegiate player, Griffin-Howard starred at Fort Valley State University from 1998-2001. She was named defensive player of the year three times in leading FVSU to two Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) titles and a runner-up finish. Griffin-Howard also excelled in volleyball at FVSU where she was a key performer on the 2001 conference championship squad.
 
Griffin-Howard finished her playing career at Armstrong Atlantic State University, where she graduated in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts design. Griffin-Howard helped AASU gain its first-ever Peach Belt Conference title and first NCAA Tournament berth. A Savannah, Ga., native, Griffin-Howard played prep basketball at Beach High School where she was one of the top players in the state.
 
Jones enters her first season as a collegiate basketball coach. Her main duties are coaching the guards and heading the strength and conditioning program. She has five years of experience as a personal trainer.
 
A native of nearby Wake Forest, N.C., Jones played volleyball and basketball at North Carolina Central University from 2002 to 2005. Her biggest highlights were making the All-CIAA rookie team and winning a conference title in volleyball. She also scored 26 points against Saint Paul’s College as a freshman in basketball.
 
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management in 2005 and a master’s degree in athletic administration in 2007 at NCCU. Jones was a three-sport prep standout at Wake Forest-Rolesville High School, where she was an all-conference basketball and volleyball player from 1999 to 2002. Jones competed in the East Regionals as a long jumper in track & field.
 
The Lady Falcons return seven players from last year’s squad which finished 19-11 overall and reached the CIAA Tournament semifinals last season. They won the league’s highest grade point average award for women’s basketball for the second consecutive season.