Juwan Howard on Michigan basketball: ‘I’m sad leaving sooner than I expected’

Juwan Howard will always be a Michigan basketball legend. Even if his head-coaching tenure didn’t turn out as we all expected, it doesn’t change that fact.

Howard was the first member of the Fab Five to commit to Michigan basketball. He played in two national championship games, helped the Wolverines reach the Final Four twice as a player, and the Elite 8 four times total as a player/coach.

People forget it, but Juwan Howard turned down NBA head-coaching interest to be the Michigan basketball head coach. He rebuffed offers after his first few seasons very successful. He led the Wolverines to a Big Ten championship in 2021, as well as back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances.

Howard won five NCAA tournament games and people say he did it with John Beilein’s players but that’s not entirely true. The Elite 8 squad had Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner (committed to Howard), but outside of that, it was Hunter Dickinson, Chaundee Brown, and Mike Smith all players landed by Howard. He also helped Austin Davis, Eli Brooks, and Brandon Johns play some of their best baskeball. We shouldn’t forget that.

Juwan Howard talks about Michigan basketball NIL problems

There were issues during the Howard era. NIL wasn’t where it needed to be. Admissions is a nightmare (and still is). Howard told The Athletic in his first interview since he was fired, that he landed the commitments of Caleb Love and Terrence Shannon without any NIL pledge, which is crazy — only to lose them because of the archaic admissions policies.

The Howard era was disappointing but it wasn’t just on him. There were ways in which the school left the head coach with one hand tied behind his back. Jim Harbaugh had the same issue — he’s just one of the greatest football coaches of all time. So he overcame it.

Howard wasn’t good enough to overcome it all. He also told The Athletic a very different sequence of events with Jon Sanderson. Howard says that when he heard Jace yell at a trainer, he said, “Yo, look, Jace, cool it.”

Things escalated from there. But The Athletic also revealed a text sent by Juwan Howard to Sanderson, “Unfortunately, we haven’t seen you in two days. Hopefully, we can meet when you return.”

Sanderson didn’t respond and didn’t return to the program. Howard also detailed his health issues much more. For now, he’s focusing on getting healthy, which is good. He’s not done coaching and I believe he’ll resurface in the NBA, where he belongs.

However, he said he has no hard feelings toward Michigan. He also said he won’t “hide under a rock.” Howard wishes Dusty May well and said he might be at a game next season.

The decision to move on was the right one. It still hurts because of what Juwan means to Michigan basketball and he expressed that too, saying, “I’m just sad to be leaving a lot sooner than I expected.”