A conversation with legendary basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian last winter changed Jerrance Howard's playing career: Howard decided to become a coach.

"I made my decision when Tarkanian, the old UNLV coach, came to watch us practice. He pulled me aside and said I should really look into coaching," Howard said. "I thought this year would give me a stepping stone to really develop some skills at coaching by working behind the scenes.

"It would be an extra year to really understand the game of basketball from a different perspective not just as a player."

Howard announced at the end of last season that he would forgo his last year of eligibility on the court to join then-head coach Bill Self on the bench as a graduate assistant.

My, how things change. Self abruptly left for Kansas. And Howard suddenly went from expendable under Self to necessary under new-head coach Bruce Weber.

A conversation with Weber and his staff last spring changed Howard's plans once again. Instead of hanging up his blue and white sneakers, Howard decided to lace them up for one more year.

And he would carry a clipboard, not in his hand, but in his head on the bench and running up-and-down the court.

"Jerrance is a good leader and he comes with emotion every day. There's no doubt that he's kind of your coach's voice," Weber said. "I think it was a good decision by our staff to keep him on. We needed his body and we need his senior leadership."

Howard is a player/assistant coach this year. His role is akin to what Dustin Ward has done for the football team this year. He absorbs. He leads. He teaches. He's there to play if you need him. And he loves it.

"To be able to put on the jersey again and to be a player, but at the same time sitting back and looking at it from the coaching standpoint, it doesn't get better than this," Howard said.

Weber wanted Howard to stay around to help ease his transition with his new squad. He got more than he bargained for. But the Illini will be better off for it.

They'll be better off because Howard has taken a lead in keeping the Peoria Pipeline alive.

He keeps a special eye watching over freshman Brian Randle, a Peoria native.

And he's trying to help Weber land the Illini their best recruit in years, who also happens to hail from Peoria. Howard took top recruit Sean Livingston under his tattooed right wing over the weekend. He explained to the highly-touted Livingston the importance of family and loyalty at Illinois. There's no better example than Howard.

Maintaining the flow of the Peoria Pipeline isn't Howard's only role this year.

He'll fill in as Weber's fifth assistant coach, conferring with the other coaches and lending a player's perspective to his teammates.

He'll play guidance counselor to the Illini's three freshmen and help ease their transition. He even lets the youngsters do their laundry at his house.

He'll play big brother to stud sophomore guards Dee Brown and Deron Williams. His role is to push Dee and Deron in practice so they'll be able to handle the guard-heavy Big Ten. Devin Harris, Bracey Wright, Chris Hill and Daniel Horton are just a few of the big-name Big Ten guards that will storm through Champaign this season.

He'll play a few minutes here and there off the bench as a backup point guard to give Williams a breather.

He'll play senior leader, something the Illini lack this year. Howard is their lone senior.

He could probably even tape ankles if trainer Al Martindale needed an extra hand.

Why stick around for another year of grueling practices, thankless behind-the-scenes work and a few game minutes? It's simple to Howard.

"My heart bleeds orange and blue so I'll do whatever it takes to help this team," Howard said.

His heart just gushes orange and blue twice as much now.

Chris Neubauer is a senior in communications. He can be reached at sports@dailyillini.com.