Why John Wall is taking over as Howard University's president of basketball operations

John Wall is returning to his Washington, D.C. roots.

The longtime Washington Wizards star, who was drafted as the No. 1 overall pick in 2010 and played for the franchise until 2020, is taking on a new management role at Howard University, ESPN reported Thursday.

Wall, who officially retired last August, is set to have control over all basketball operations for the nation's top-ranked HBCU program.

Here's what to know about Wall's new role at Howard University.

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What is John Wall's role with Howard University?

Wall first served as an honorary captain for Howard basketball on Jan. 31, per ESPN, which is when he "expressed to the school a desire to be a president of basketball operations at the NBA level one day." As it turned out, the program had that exact role available for Wall.

He is being given the title of president of basketball operations at Howard and has "already taken a hands-on approach," including playing a role in team meetings, evaluating recruits and transfer targets, and shaping "the program's overall strategic vision with focus on roster management, name, image and likeness deals, revenue sharing, agent negotiations and player mentorship," per ESPN.

Wall will be working alongside Howard coach Kenny Blakeney and team general manager Daniel Marks in his new role.

He's not the first NBA star to take a hands-on approach with building a college program. Stephen Curry became an assistant general manager for Davidson in 2025, Trae Young took on the same title at Oklahoma, and Damian Lillard was named general manager at Weber State in August.

Wall, who retired last year after an 11-year career with the Wizards, Rockets and Clippers, will be tasked with building a Howard program that, per ESPN, is one of just five mid-majors in the country to make the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four years.

In the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the Bison won their first tournament game in program history by beating UMBC in the First Four.

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Where did John Wall go to college?

Unlike Curry, Young and Lillard, Wall isn't taking on a role with his alma mater. He attended Kentucky as a one-and-done star guard in 2009-10, choosing the Wildcats as a recruit over Duke, Georgia Tech and Kansas.

Wall was inducted into the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017 and was a college star, setting the Kentucky single-game assist record with 16, leading the team in scoring, assists and steals en route to an SEC regular season and SEC tournament championship and run to the Elite Eight.

Wall then became the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Wizards — and at Howard, he's now tapping into that connection with the D.C. area once again.