Everyone’s finally finding out about Michigan assistant Howard Eisley

When Howard Eisley first joined Juwan Howard’s staff at Michigan, months would sometimes go by before anyone heard from him. He was the “quiet guy” who seemed to be prefer doing his job without being seen nor heard, getting acclimated to recruiting and the college game after years of being an NBA assistant. 

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But people are finding out about him now. Associate head coach Phil Martelli raved about him and assistant Saddi Washington after U-M beat Rutgers minus Juwan Howard, serving a five-game suspension. Martelli praised him again after an 87-70 Michigan blowout win over Michigan State Wednesday. 

“In no phony way, I just think Howard Eisley called a flawless offensive game,” he said. “And, again, the calls were his. The only call I did was the one I completely screwed up at the end of the half. I will not sleep real long tonight thinking I forgot to tell Eli, ‘you do not take that shot.’ The only possible thing that could happen was [supposed to be] for the half to end. Don’t shoot the ball until the half ends, and I didn’t tell him that. And it almost cost us with a momentum basket at the half.

“Saddi Washington’s scout — flawless. And Howard Eisley’s offensive game calling was — if there was a quarterback rating and the highest rating ever was [Tom] Brady. I’m supposed to say that, right? Because at Michigan, he probably has the highest rating. But Howard Eisley — he pitched a perfect game. He pitched a perfect game.”

It helped that Hunter Dickinson was left one-on-one in the post many times, of course. He took advantage of it, scoring at will in making 13 of 19 shots and scoring 33 points. 

But it was clear they were extremely well prepared, from the top (Martelli) down. MSU head coach Tom Izzo lamented his team’s defense, but Michigan carved them up behind Dickinson and outstanding guard and wing play. 

Eisley has gotten the most out of the Michigan point guards since he arrived. When much-improved veteran DeVante’ Jones went down with two fouls, Frankie Collins stepped up with his best game of the year. 

“[Point guard] is probably the toughest position to learn, especially when you’re going to different levels,” Eisley said. “It’s always been an adjustment going from the high school level to the college level. The game is just moving so much faster. 

“Him trying to settle into his game at this level, there’s no way to predict how long that will take, but he’s been working at it. He’s starting to seem, from my eye, more comfortable and more confident in the plays he can make on the floor.”

The Michigan frosh still needs to be able to shoot, something Martelli spoke of in the MSU postgame. That’s something he’ll be working on this summer.

But he was swarming defensively, and he helped smother the Spartans’ offense. Michigan controlled the game for the last 30 minutes, led by double digits for the last 27-plus and was never really threatened. 

Following Martelli’s lead, Eisley deflected praise.

“Hunter was great,” he said. “Calling a flawless game … I’m not quite sure what that means. Our guys did a really good job of executing on offense and executing the sets. 

“We were able to get the ball where we needed to get it, and Hunter did the rest. He was great … the way he took his time on the post and really got whatever shot he wanted.”

That will be key in tonight’s game with Iowa, too. The Wolverines need at least one more win to feel relatively comfortable about an NCAA Tournament berth and the Hawkeyes are rolling. 

But it’s clear now Howard’s team is in good hands, thanks to another Howard and a group of assistants more than up to the task. 

The saying in any profession is, “choose your people wisely.” In that respect, the Michigan head coach did an outstanding job.