Former VCU star JoJo Howie returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in August of 2024, following seven successful seasons at the junior college level.
A member of VCU’s 2015 NCAA Regional Championship team, where he was a teammate of Rams Head Coach Sean Thompson, Howie returns to The Diamond after spending the 2024 season as head coach at Central Arizona College, where he led the Vaqueros to a 45-14 record and a berth in the NJCAA Tournament. Howie’s Central Arizona squad finished the spring ranked 18th nationally in the NJCAA Division I Poll.
Howie was elevated to Vaqueros head coach following a two-year stint as Central Arizona pitching coach that included an NJCAA Division I World Series Championship in 2022. The Vaqueros were 106-25 during Howie’s two seasons overseeing the pitching staff and 151-39 overall across his three-year stay in Coolidge, Ariz. Central Arizona led the nation in ERA in both 2023 (2.30) and 2024 (2.78) under Howie’s direction, and the Vaqueros finished fifth nationally in the category in 2022 (3.36).
Three pitchers, Luke Meyers, Matt Wilkinson, Patrick Steitz earned NJCAA All-America honors while under Howie’s wing.
Prior to Central Arizona, Howie served as head coach at Everett Community College in Everett, Wash. from 2017-21, where he guided the Trojans to a 99-44 record and a pair of Northwest Athletic Conference North Division titles. He also served as an assistant coach for Everett during the 2016 season.
Howie turned in two outstanding seasons on the mound for the Rams from 2014-15. The crafty 6-3 lefthander made 32 starts for VCU and fashioned a 15-10 record and a 2.95 ERA across 210.2 innings. He tossed six complete games for the Black and Gold and struck out 160.
He was critical in VCU’s march to A-10 and NCAA Regional Championships in 2015. Howie hurled 6.2 innings of two-run ball and earned the win in the opening game of the Dallas Baptist Regional that June. He also scattered four hits and did not allow an earned run in 6.1 innings against Miami in the Super Regional round.
A native of Redmond, Wash., Howie began his collegiate career at Everett Community College, where he helped the Trojans to a conference title in 2013. In his two seasons, Howie posted a 14-3 record and a 1.95 ERA.
