Juwan Howard is out at Michigan.
The Wolverines introduced Friday that they had been parting methods with the Fab 5 legend. Howard has been Michigan’s head males’s basketball coach for the previous 5 seasons.
“After a complete overview of this system, I’ve determined that Juwan won’t return as our males’s basketball coach,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel stated in a press release. “Juwan is among the many best Wolverines to ever be related to our basketball program. I understand how a lot it meant, to not solely Juwan, however to all of us for him to return right here to steer this program. Regardless of his love of his alma mater and the optimistic expertise that our student-athletes had underneath his management, it was clear to me that this system was not dwelling as much as our expectations and never trending in the correct course.”
Michigan was 8-24 in 2023-24 after ending above .500 in every of Howard’s first 4 seasons with the varsity. The Wolverines made two NCAA event appearances and had a file of 87-72 throughout Howard’s tenure.
The Wolverines ended the 2023-24 season with 9 straight losses. The staff’s final victory got here at Wisconsin on Feb. 7 and the season ended with a 66-57 loss to Penn State within the Large Ten event on Wednesday. The nine-game shedding streak to finish the season was the third streak of at the very least 5 losses in a row.
It was a tumultuous season off the court docket too. Former power coach Jon Sanderson left the varsity and is now at Illinois following a December confrontation with Howard. Sanderson’s separation settlement with Michigan reportedly included a non-disclosure clause.
The confrontation got here after Juwan’s son, Jace Howard, allegedly had a dispute of his personal with a coach. Jace Howard didn’t play till Jan. 15 this season due to a stress fracture in his foot and Sanderson detailed his facet of what came about in an electronic mail to Manuel the following day.
From The Athletic:
Sanderson wrote that Jace Howard “was berating” the coach and brought on a “scene” that prompted a number of gamers to cease and watch. Sanderson described the scene as “completely uncontrolled,” and stated the coach was making an attempt to calm Jace Howard down and get him to debate the matter privately. Noticing the coach trying more and more determined and “panicked,” Sanderson intervened, yelling at Howard from roughly 30 ft away: “You’re a pupil athlete and he’s an expert. You don’t speak to an expert like that. That’s disrespectful and entitled.” He stated he repeated that the tirade was “disrespectful.”
Sanderson wrote within the electronic mail to Manuel that he tried to de-escalate the state of affairs, turning his again and strolling away. When Sanderson appeared again, he stated Juwan Howard got here at him, “offended and able to combat,” repeatedly yelling as gamers and workers held him again.
Juwan Howard additionally missed the primary 10 video games of the season after present process coronary heart surgical procedure in September. Howard returned to the sidelines on Dec. 16 after Phil Martelli served because the staff’s interim coach.
Howard got here again to Michigan after he was an assistant coach with the Miami Warmth from 2013-19. He performed the final three seasons of his 19-year NBA profession with the Warmth after he was picked by the Washington Wizards with the No. 5 decide within the 1994 NBA Draft. The Chicago native performed three seasons at Michigan and turned professional when he graduated after his junior 12 months. Michigan made the Ultimate 4 in every of Howard’s first two seasons and misplaced within the Elite Eight in 1994.