There are two particular goals Destiny Howell has been set on achieving since she was just nine years old: becoming a professional basketball player and coaching basketball at the collegiate level. Goals which, as she emphasizes, have served as a guiding light over the years. For this New York native though, there is something bigger at the center of it all that has allowed her to continuously blossom in the space—her love for the game of basketball. From winning a MEAC Championship and being named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player as a sophomore to earning the MEAC Player of the Year and HBCU Co-Player of the Year honors during her junior season, Destiny's commitment to the sport have helped her leave a mark on the game and foster an incredible personal legacy throughout her collegiate career at Howard University. Despite suffering an ACL injury that kept her from playing during the 2023-24 season, Destiny continued to seek out ways to elevate her game further. From watching more film to studying the execution of different plays on the floor, she became a student of the game from the sidelines—a testament to her passion for the sport and commitment to reaching her highest potential. It has only been up from there! As she looks to make a return to the court this season, Destiny is focused on winning another championship and working towards achieving her childhood goals. Moreover, she is looking forward to pursuing her interests beyond the game which include launching her own clothing brand and participating in philanthropic ventures surrounding mental health and breast cancer awareness. Truly inspiring!
Take us back to your journey in high school! How do you think your game elevated throughout your time in high school to prepare you for the next level?
I actually started at Glen Cove High School in Long Island. It was a public school league and I was an eighth grader on Varsity. I had a really good experience up until my sophomore year (where) I just realized that if I wanted to go where I said I wanted to go—which was to play Division I basketball and play at the highest level—, then I would have to get out of that league. That's when I transferred to St. Francis Prep. I would say that the Catholic School League is arguably one of the best leagues in the country, and I knew that the talent—not just on my team but with the whole conference in general—would push me to be better. My junior year was a little bit rough. I was trying to figure out how to be myself around a whole bunch of other people that were good as well. You know, I wasn't immediately the star of the show. That was something that I had to get acclimated to, and I kind of took a back seat and figured that out throughout that season. My senior year is when I really think my game elevated. I knew exactly the player I wanted to be. I knew exactly how to fit within my team. We had about three or four other people that went Division I that year. I would say that, by our senior year, we had it all figured out. The chemistry, the cohesiveness between the team. I feel like that allowed everybody to flourish as well as myself. My last game that I played there was the championship game, and I had 37 (points) that game. That was the last high school game I ever played because, you know, COVID didn't allow us to finish the rest of that season to go on to State. We won that Brooklyn-Queens Division, but we weren't able to make it to State because of COVID.
As you took that next step and started your collegiate career at Howard, how was that transition then from high school to college like for you?