Jalen Rose ‘shed tears’ in giving his take on Michigan coach Juwan Howard

Former Michigan Fab Fiver Jalen Rose knows Michigan coach Juwan Howard well, having played with him and grown with him. The ESPN basketball analyst admitted he would be lying if he told people he didn’t “shed a couple tears” after his former teammate and current Michigan coach Howard got involved in an altercation following U-M’s loss at Wisconsin. 

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Howard got into a skirmish with Badgers coach Greg Gard after Sunday’s 77-63 loss. The scuffle also involved players Moussa Diabate and Terrance Williams, Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft and some Badgers players. 

“When I say that, what that means to me and why it was so painful for me … I wish this wouldn’t have happened on so many different levels,” Rose said. “First and foremost, shout out to Michael Finley, who was there to get his number retired. We went to Wisconsin as freshmen, and he and Tracy Webster waxed us then. And I sat with Juwan, Ray [Jackson], Chris [Webber] and Jimmy [King] and understood how to overcome that turbulence because it’s a part of the game. 

“As I look at the adults in this situation, the head coaches. — Juwan and Coach [Greg] Gard — they’re both going to look back at this scenario and tell themselves things they shouldn’t have done and things they won’t do going forward. I don’t judge by what people say. I go by what they’re going to do going forward. What the Wisconsin and Michigan coaches are going to do different going forward.”

Howard deserves to be punished and he will be punished, Rose noted. 

“But I do not believe it’s a fireable offense,” he said. “First and foremost, when you’re waxing the Michigan Wolverines, you don’t necessarily have to call timeout to rub it in. You can, though. I’m not mad at the unwritten rules. I was a member of the Fab Five. We already know how it is. Throw if off the backboard in the Big Ten. Michigan is the storied program in that conference. 

“So, when people bring us [in], they’re going to have a little extra enthusiasm towards it. I knew that — as somebody who grew up in Detroit and a season ticket holder and an alum — and Juwan knows that, too. When you’re walking past after you just beat Michigan and you see the other head coach is upset … you know what you probably shouldn’t do, that I don’t believe their coach will do again? Impede that person’s progress. The second thig I don’t thing he will do is grab that human being while he’s impeding that person’s progress, because that physical altercation now changes the dynamic of our interaction.”

Gard’s mistake, Rose added, was to put his hands on Howard when Howard simply wanted to walk past him with a message in the handshake line.

“As a human being, we both know, once you start putting your hands on me, that starts to change what you’ve said and what you’ve done,” Rose said. “But once he puts his hands on him, and all of a sudden it becomes an altercation, Juwan set him straight. He told him multiple times, ‘don’t put your hands on me. Don’t put your hands on me …’

“So, I think he was kind of straightened out. The assistant coach [Krabbenhoft] comes to his head coach’s defense for Wisconsin, trying to get through the scrum. He did put his hands on the Michigan player a little aggressively, and Juwan, being defensive of his player, then what I call overreacted. Then he mushed, smacked the assistant coach upside the head. That’s something he knows he can’t do. That’s something he would not do if that situation happened again.”

Rose believes both sides will learn from it. It’s also not the worst thing he’s ever seen in coaching, he added — “not remotely.”

“I’ve seen coaches threaten to kill another coaches, I’ve seen coaches have multiple allegations to bet other jobs,” he said. “It just happens. These human beings are at work. It’s the heat of the battle. Sometimes the heat of the battle, your cup overfloweth. That happens with Juwan. 

He then compared his defense of Howard to Janet Jackson and family’s defense of Michael Jackson when he was dealing with numerous allegations of abuse. 

“There are going to be a lot of people who never liked him us, me, that are now going to take this as an opportunity to slander him, slander me — to slander all of us,” Rose concluded. “And here’s what I’ll say: 

“He made a mistake. He made a bad decision. And I’m not speaking for him like Janet couldn’t speak for Michael. I’m speaking for me. And here’s what I’ve got to say —

“I’m sorry, and apologize that it happened, because I know his head, and I know his heart. I know what he’s about and the kind of character he has as a human being, and I know that that was had a lapse in judgment. 

“Through that, yes, he’s going to get punished. But ultimately, as we move on and graduate, there are going to be people on both sides that look back at this scenario and realize what they could have done differently — including Juwan, obviously.”