Juwan Howard explains special postgame moment with Kennedy Chandler

During his postgame interview, Michigan head coach Juwan Howard explained what he said to Tennessee‘s Kennedy Chandler after the game. Michigan advanced to the Sweet 16 after defeating the three-seed Tennessee, 76-68. After the game, the broadcast caught a special moment between Howard and Chandler while the Michigan coach consoled the Tennessee star on the court while emotions took ahold of him.

Juwan Howard on what he told Kennedy Chandler

After the game, the emotion of the moment took over for Chandler and led to one of the most memorable images of this year’s NCAA Tournament. As Howard reached the young star to shake his hand after the game, Howard shared words with Chandler as he consoled him on the court. Chandler played great during the loss, leading Tennessee’s scoring attack with 19 points and 9 assists.

Howard was asked during his postgame press conference what he told Chandler during that moment.

“Kennedy is an elite player, and he’s one of the best guards in the country,” said Howard. “I got a chance to know Kennedy back when my youngest son, Jett, and Kennedy played in AAU, and they won the LeBron James tournament in Ohio. So we had a relationship back then.

“Just watching his growth, I’ve always been impressed. We recruited him, unfortunately, we wasn’t that lucky, but to see the output, the effort, the growth and being able to produce like that on the floor and how he led his team in a special way. I gave him words of encouragement. It shows his emotion, that he cares. As coaches, you appreciate that.”

The reveal that Howard had a previous connection to Chandler seemed to explain a little bit more about how he was able to help console Chandler after the game, but didn’t take anything away from the moment itself. As each game in the NCAA Tournament means one more team is going home and having their championship dreams end, Chandler certainly won’t be the last player to have a moment on the court where his emotions take over.