Michigan guard Jace Howard will miss 4-6 weeks due to stress fracture in right leg

Jace Howard, the son of Michigan’s Juwan Howard, is one of the handful of pieces that returned to Ann Arbor this offseason. However, he will now be unavailable for the start of the team’s season.

The Wolverine’s program announced an injury to Howard in a release on Friday. Due to a stress fracture in his right knee and tibia, he will miss the first four to six weeks of the season.

“Juwan Howard announced Friday (Nov. 3) that guard Jace Howard will miss four to six weeks due to a stress fracture in his right knee and tibia,” the statement wrote.

“This is unfortunate for Jace as he is a vital member of this program,” Juwan Howard said as part of the statement. “We know over the next four to six weeks he will be diligent and work as hard as he can to get healthy.”

Howard himself also included a quote in the statement and expressed that, although he wishes he could start the season with Michigan, he will still be an active participant during his recovery.

“You never want to get injured, especially at the beginning of a season,” said Howard. “It hasn’t been easy not being with my brothers on the floor. However, I am going to continue to be a voice and make an impact.”

Howard has been a member of his father’s program over the past three seasons. In 55 appearances as a Wolverine, all off the bench, he has averaged 1.2 points in six minutes per game.

Howard, out of Miami, Florida, was a three-star prospect back in 2020. He was a Top-250 recruit overall, the No. 54 SF, and a Top-20 prospect out of Florida. That’s according to On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Howard is looking at a return in mid-December based on the timeline that the program provided. It’s certainly not ideal for him, his family, or the Wolverines but, for now, he is going to be as big of a part of the team as he can until then.

Howard says ’23-’24 squad is the ‘most professional team I’ve been around’

The Michigan Wolverines went through another tumultuous offseason in terms of roster turnover and construction with plenty of faces moving in and out of the program. As for Jace Howard, though, he is just ready to get back to work.

Michigan lost a trio of stars from last year’s team with Hunter Dickinson transferring to Kansas and Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard heading to the NBA. However, the program feels like it added a trio of potential stars with experience in Olivier Nkamhoua, Tray Jackson, and Nimari Burnett. Howard sees it coming together as the most business-like group he has been a part of.

“I think we’re the most professional team I’ve been around in terms of how we carry ourselves and practice off the court,” Howard said. “It’s a business-like approach that we’ve been taking. You feel the level of maturity in this team, and not saying that the other teams weren’t. But I just think this is…we’re an older team. So that’s what you get with an older team. It’s just been that. And I think we’ve just been holding our heads high on our pride and defense.

“We’ve lost a lot, but we also gained a lot. We’ve gained two stars from different programs. Tennessee and Alabama were both Top-10 teams and we got two stars from both those programs. And just being able to see that along with Trey (Jackson)? It’s been great because we’re starting to get a lot of different perspectives and different leadership roles from different guys. And it’s just been great to see. We have an identity of maturity, leadership and defense.”