Call him a chameleon coach because Howie Furman knows how to adapt to different styles.
One of the greatest accomplishments of his long career, which saw him go from Division III Old Westbury to Bayside High to Franklin K. Lane — where he won the PSAL Class B city championship six years ago — to Townsend Harris, was leading the undersized Hawks to the program’s first-ever Class A playoff win this year.
Playing in the tough Queens II-A division against powerhouses Cardozo, Bayside and Jamaica, the tiny Hawks — most of whom are under 6-feet tall — beat John F. Kennedy, 63-54, in overtime in the first round of the Class A playoffs before falling to second-seeded Grady in the second round.
“I’ve had a lot of great experiences, from being a ballplayer in high school to going to a major college on scholarship to coaching colleges and high schools,” Furman said. “Some of the things that happened here were just fantastic.”
A former All-American guard at New Utrecht who played a year under legendary coach Dean Smith at North Carolina, he led Townsend Harris — the Princeton of the PSAL — to a 9-5 league record after a disappointing 2-12 season in 2003.
“The maturity of the team, now that they were seniors, they worked on some things during the offseason,” Furman said. “I think as we started playing non-league games and we beat LIC, Bryant and started to see we can beat some of these teams.”
After leaving Franklin K. Lane, Furman led Townsend Harris to the Class B playoffs in his first year, the first playoff appearance in school history.
“It’s tough here, but it’s really been great coaching here,” the Howard Beach resident said. “They really come here for an education and if they can play ball then it’s a bonus.”
While Furman is getting the honor, he credits a senior-laden bunch this year, including guards Louie Elrose and Kenny Yu, Baruch-bound Jesse Franco and 6-foot-2 center Paris Asprou, with the success of the team, including a key 68-62 win over Jamaica in January.
“You would have thought we won the city title,” Furman said of his team’s post-game reaction. “That game also put us into the playoffs mathematically. Those kind of games were just fantastic. The kids on the team worked so hard.”
