Canadian RHP Howell astonished by visit and commits to NU

Nebraska continues to look north to Canada for potential outstanding baseball players, and they added another prospect to their roster when 2023 right-handed-pitcher Griffin Howell announced his commitment to the Huskers last week.

The Husker staff became aware of Howell after seeing him play in a baseball tournament in Atlanta, Georgia during the summer.

“I was on Team Canada for the PBR Futures game and they saw me,” Howell recalled about how the Nebraska coaches became aware of him. “What really got me to go there was the coaches and their facilities.

“All the coaches there are just really good guys and guys who I feel I can trust. Their facilities were next-level. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s completely more than anything I would have imagined being there.”

The 6-foot, 190-pound Tecumseh, Ontario resident took an official visit to Lincoln during the weekend of the Michigan football game. His father accompanied him on the trip south.

“I like that the coaches were with us the whole time,” Howell recounted. “It really made me feel like they cared about us, like they wanted to build a personal relationship with the players. That really made me want to go to Nebraska. Their coaches are just great guys and guys I want to spend my next four years at university with.

“My relationship with coach (Lance) Harvell is great. When we had phone calls, he seemed like a very down to earth guy. He was making jokes with me and really made an effort to connect with me, which I think I was probably one of the most important factors in my decision. Just meshing with the coaches.”

Howell just recently turned 16 years old, so he has much more development yet to come before he gets to Nebraska.

“I’d like to say, for me, that my fastball is what I am most known for because I already touch 89-90,” Howell said, while adding, “but my slider is always with me. I have a really tight, hard slider. What I like most about myself is I’m not a typical 6-4, big guy pitcher. I’m gritty. I just get on the mound and do my job.”

Having several other Canadians on Nebraska’s team when he eventually gets there to start college, was another reason Howell felt comfortable committing to NU.

“It’s actually awesome,” Howell said. “My buddy, Matty Evans, committed there a few weeks before me. He told me all about the facilities and stuff, and I was just astonished. Core Jackson is already there, and another [Canadian], Caleb Clark, will be there when I get there.

“Having so many Canadians on the team will make it feel like home for me. I won’t be the only guy there from Canada.”

Howell was also receiving recruiting interest from VCU, Northern Kentucky and Niagara.

While on their visit to Nebraska, Howell’s father switched his allegiance to the Huskers and away from another Big Ten program.

“He was originally a Michigan fan, so going to Nebraska to watch Michigan play was pretty interesting” Howell said of his father. “But he switched [to Nebraska] right away and said the college atmosphere in Lincoln was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

“He’s been like a diehard Michigan fan and he said, ‘this is next-level’ compared to what he had seen at Michigan. Like, the atmosphere and the facilities and stuff; he was just astonished by it all.”