Juwan Howard shares excitement to overcome adversity in win

Michigan improved to just 8-10 on the year with a win over Ohio State, but Juwan Howard knows his team overcame some adversity.

It hasn’t been pretty this season for the boys in maize and blue. But the Michigan basketball head coach said the team would enjoy a much needed win.

Could it be the start of a nice run? It remains to be seen. But at the very least, Michigan got back on the right track.

“Well, you see me out there after those losses,” Howard said. “We’ve sat there and stood there and talked. We didn’t sit, we stood and talked about it. You can just see the pain on my face because you care. I care so much that I’ve never want to disappoint our young men. As a coach when you walk in that locker room and you’ve lost a tough game and just to see how it looks when our team faces because they were a lot of that stress on their shoulders, because all the hard work they put into practice and the time they put in on film you want it to be rewarding. 

“Today it was and I always say take it one game at a time. We’re going to enjoy this victory. And then tomorrow we’re going to work on our next scout, next opponent.”

To do it in front of the members of the “Fab Five” was extra special for Howard. Perhaps a moment like that can catapult the team moving forward.

“I’m still on an emotional high just to see my brothers able to show up on a day so special, when you need them the most,” Howard said. “What I mean by needing them the most is, when you have a team that’s been fighting so hard — like our team — and coming up short game after game and sometimes having doubt that creeps up in your mind because you have those human emotions. 

“But to see a group of brothers that have put on that jersey before and who have been through tough times and to be able to walk in that door and uplift our group and inspire them the way how they inspire them today with their presence, it was special to see, special to be a part of it.”

As far as that next test for Michigan, as Howard alluded to, it’s Illinois coming to Ann Arbor. The No. 14 Fighting Illini will be favored Thursday night.