Former Wagga Heat captain Joseph Howard experienced it all during his time with Samford University, and he’ll relive those glory days when his team is inducted into the college’s Hall Of Fame on February 17.

It was a wild ride for the Wagga native and his little known Alabama college.

They earned their way to the prestigious NCAA Tournament in 1999 after winning their first conference title in Howard’s freshman season.

That same team also also chalked up the university’s winningest season in the process, finishing at 24-6, a record which stands to this day.

Now Howard and his teammates are set to become Hall of Famers, an honour which means everything to the former Heat stalwart.

“The first thing I thought, being a father with a three-year-old son, was that I’d be able to go over there one day and say ‘have a look at this...this is how far your old man got,’” he said.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and something that will be in the history books forever.”

Howard said he’d never forget the feeling of competing in the NCAA Tournament, with the sights and sounds of one of the world’s largest sporting events forever burnt into his memory.

“We created history in a bunch of different ways and really put Sanford on the map,” he said.  

“No one knew anything about us and then suddenly we’re being broadcast live on ESPN.”

The underdogs faced St John’s University in the first round of the knockout tournament at the old Orlando Magic stadium, and while they may not have prevailed, they did get a taste of playing against the very best.

St John’s were led by bruising enforcer Ron Artest (now known as Metta World Peace), who most notably won the 2010 NBA championship with the LA Lakers alongside Kobe Bryant, and six years earlier sparked the biggest brawl in NBA history.

“He didn’t even look like he was trying against us and yet he still dominated, that’s how good he was,” Howard said.

“He was massive too, he was like a tree with arms.

“You’d push as hard you could into him and it was like mozzies were landing on him or something, it was unreal.”

The following season, Samford did the unthinkable and made it to the NCAA Tournament once again.

But Howard had returned to Australia midway through the season due to family reasons.

He later found himself training with the Brisbane Bullets, but an increasing urgency to find a steady pay cheque saw him make the sport a secondary priority.

After playing for the Gold Coast in the Queensland Basketball League, the towering local found his way home and represented the Heat from 2012 until 2016.

He now plans to return to the team “in the next year or two”, once his son Jordan is old enough to tag along to trainings.