Juwan Howard: ‘I look forward to coaching next year’ – will it be at Michigan?

Michigan head coach Juwan Howard had a rough year, both health-wise and as the leader of a team that went 8-24. But he didn’t sound like a man who thought he was going to be looking for a job at the end of the year, seemingly hopeful to return next season. 

Several reporters asked after his team’s 66-57 loss to Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament if he still planned to stay the course, which he said he would weeks ago when he vowed not to quit.

“My answer hasn’t changed,” he said. 

He credited his team’s “fight” on the defensive end, said he was proud of every player given the adversity the team dealt with, and credited them “to be able to come out each and every night and give everything that we’ve asked.”

Many would probably disagree with the last statement. Regardless, something was off with this team and program this year, and that’s put him on the proverbial “hot seat.” Asked if he’d thought about it or discussed it with A.D. Warde Manuel, he admitted he hadn’t. Manuel said weeks ago he hadn’t given thought to Howard’s future, crediting the team for its “energy.” But there simply wasn’t much of that in the last part of the schedule. 

“We just played the game. There are a lot of emotions right now at this moment for players and coaches,” he said. “We did not want to lose this game tonight, but it so happens that’s what happened. We’ll go back home and sit down and meet, me and players. Then I’m sure the athletic department will want to sit down and talk. I’m looking forward to having those type of conversations.”

Asked what his pitch would be to keep his job, he seemed to cringe a bit.

“I say this out of respect — I didn’t know I was being interviewed at this time,” Howard said. “When you say the word “pitch” because then that means I of course have to be able to pitch what you had touched on … at this time, man, we lost a tough game. This is a heartbreaker for me and my entire staff, as well as players. So, it’s going to be tough to sleep tonight for all of us.

“There are going to be a lot of decisions made when the season ends — obviously the season just ended. We’ll regroup tomorrow, and we will sit down and talk as a staff on our needs, our wants. At the same time, we’re going to do a great job — I trust we will do a great job in executing that plan.”

Will they get the opportunity? That’s the question. Some have pointed to his heart issues at the beginning of the season as a deterrent to success, noting he wasn’t able to coach his team the way he’d hoped. Howard acknowledged he turned the corner just a few weeks ago and is still rehabbing three day a week, adding, “My health is truly improving day in and day out. I look forward to coaching next year.”

Asked at what point effort turns into “tangible” success, he elaborated on the issues they faced this year.

“When you think back to some of the adversity we faced starting with injuries — not making excuses, but this is reality,” Howard said. “You look at injuries to key guys. This was touched on just recently, the last four weeks of our season losing Olivier [Nkamhoua], one of our best players on our team.

“You look at the time when we lost, not having our point guard. And as we were clawing and scrapping — not making excuses during that process, understanding, yes, those situations that happened, we have to take ownership of it and grow with it. Then you look at the fact that with the change of a new roster, you lose one of your best players to the transfer portal, Hunter Dickinson. Then you also lose two NBA players, first round picks, one being a lottery pick, the other one just one pick off being in the lottery.”

They failed to make the NCAA Tournament with all that talent, however, and had many issues last year, as well.  The replacements struggled even when healthy this season.

“It’s challenging of course building a roster,” Howard continued. “You have to reinvent yourself. Like I said before, not making any excuses for it, and sure enough, we did not. At the same time, you don’t plan on the adversity that we faced. You’re hoping that you have a little luck within this sport because truly luck plays a major role.

“For us, we didn’t have that luck. Overall, I really appreciate our guys night in and night out, every time that we pushed them to get uncomfortable, they allowed us to and accepted it. -But we learned a lot from them and who they are. You heard it from our two players that were here earlier. They talked about being all in because of our culture, and our culture, that’s what we have. We’ve instilled a culture since day one, since I’ve been a head coach here, and we will not waver from it, no matter what college basketball and the rules with college basketball has thrown at us. We will stick to the culture because we understand what works.

“We’re going to, like I said earlier, regroup when I get back, and we’re going to figure out what’s best for this program moving forward.”

It needs to be announced soon if that includes Howard at the helm. The longer it goes, the more uncertainty there is, the worse for the program, and there’s no reason to hesitate at this point.