Howard University, tonight’s University of Hawaii basketball opponent, is proof that Bison still roam the planet.

That these Bison range far and wide is attested to by a schedule that has them playing their 13th game away from the Washington, D.C., home court in 16 games this season.

“If I thought about how much we’re on the road, I’d probably fire myself,” head coach Kevin Nickelberry said.

It is economic necessity, not wanderlust, that fuels Howard’s crisscrossing of the country. Its athletic department is dependent upon the checks its teams, basketball and football primarily, bring home to help underwrite the other 13 teams the school fields.

It is a financial fact of life in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as well as the Southwestern Athletic Conference, two historically black college and university (HBCU) leagues where UH often shops for opponents.

You may recall UH’s season-opening victim, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which has played one home game in 14 contests and Prairie View A&M, which has spent 11 of its 13 games away from home.

Not surprisingly they have all struggled to get in the win column, Howard arriving at 3-12 while Arkansas Pine Bluff is 0-14 and Prairie View 2-11.

Not until January, when they open conference play, is home more than a quick laundry stop for the Bison who have been to Indiana, Washington state, Michigan, Arkansas, Florida, Texas and now, Hawaii.

But where Howard distinguishes itself from many of its globetrotting brethren is academically, despite the considerable challenges inherent in living out of a suitcase.

The Bison’s most recent Academic Progress Rates, a metric the NCAA uses to gauge academic retention and progress toward graduation, was 952 and 943 over the last two rating periods (2014-15 and 2015-16). Both figures are not only higher than many peer institutions but above UH, according to results on the NCAA website.

For the last academic year Howard placed eight of its men’s basketball players on the MEAC Commissioner’s All-Academic Team with a grade point average of 3.0 or better. The team GPA was 3.14, no small feat at a school that U. S. News and World Report ranked in the top 110.

It is that academic prominence at a school whose graduates include Thurgood Marshall, Andrew Young, Roberta Flack, Toni Morrison and P-Diddy, that prompted the administration that hired Nickelberry to make academic improvement mandatory.

Three times in four years before his arrival the Bison had APRs under 900 and had been sanctioned by the NCAA with a scholarship reduction.

The Bison hadn’t had double digit wins in the same season in seven years and just one NCAA Tournament appearance in 27 years before Nickelberry was given the job and marching orders to improve performance in the classroom as well as on-the-court. Since then they have one NCAA appearance and three double digit victory seasons.

“He’s done an exceptional job establishing a foundation that is on course to win both on the court and in the classroom,” athletic director Kery Davis has said.

It turns out Nickelberry might have done too good of a job. Two of his recruits, James Daniel III and James “JT” Miller, graduated early and became graduate transfers to Tennessee and Missouri State, respectively for their final year of eligibility. Daniel is the Division I active career scoring leader (1,984 career points).

“It has been challenging, but we’re trying to set a standard,” Nickelberry said.

This from somebody who knows a challenge when he sees one, having coached the Libyan National Team.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.