Juwan Howard reinstated, will coach Michigan in the postseason
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard has officially been reinstated, per sources close to the program, and will coach the Wolverines basketball team in the postseason. U-M will face Indiana as the No. 8 seed in an 8-9 game Thursday at 11:30 in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
The Wolverines moved a step closer to an NCAA Tournament bid with a 75-69 win over Ohio State Sunday. Howard would coach the Wolverines in the Big Dance, as well.
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The Big Ten accepted a Michigan five-game punishment of the coach for his part in postgame altercation at Wisconsin weeks ago. Howard was upset when Badgers head coach Greg Gard called timeout with 15 seconds remaining. He let him know about it in the handshake line, after which Gard put his hands on Howard and stopped him.
It escalated from there, with Howard throwing a slap at Badgers assistant Joe Krabbenhoft. Michigan players Moussa Diabate and Terrance Williams also received one-game suspensions for their part in the melee.
Michigan director of athletics Warde Manuel made it clear there was no excuse for Howard’s reaction.
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“Today’s disciplinary actions underscore the seriousness with which we take the incident that unfolded on Sunday,” he said in a statement. “Simply put, there is no room at U-M for the behavior we saw. We will learn from this incident as a department, work to improve ourselves while operating under a spotlight, and move forward in a positive light.”
Associate head coach Phil Martelli took over for Howard and led Michigan to a 3-2 record down the stretch. That included home wins over Rutgers and Michigan State and a road victory over Ohio State Sunday.
Part of Howard’s suspension included verbiage that his situation would be “reevaluated” before he was reinstated. It apparently has been, and he’s back to work at Michigan.
The Michigan team was scheduled off today, but Howard was meeting with his players individually. They’ll be back to work tomorrow to prepare for the Hoosiers.
