Juwan Howard says ‘you’re welcome’ to Illinois after loss, expresses sadness for his players
Michigan and head coach Juwan Howard suffered another embarrassing loss, falling behind by nearly 40 points before losing 97-68 at Illinois. The crowd began chanting “0-8!” — Howard’s record against the Illini since he arrived at Michigan — with around 4 minutes remaining.
Adding insult to injury, wing Terrence Shannon, a Texas Tech transfer who seemed headed to Michigan last year before circumstances prevented it, torched the Wolverines for 31 points.
“I’m very familiar with Terrence Shannon. You’re welcome,” Howard said, laughing. “You’re welcome. Terrence Shannon is a guy who I recruited who committed to the University of Michigan, as you all are very aware of. And you’re welcome. He’s played extremely well since he’s been here.”
He continued to talk about how proud he was of Shannon after dealing with a rape charge and being suspended earlier in the year, and he credited the Illinois coaches for continuing to support him, going off on a bit of a tangent.
As for his own team — there’s not much more Howard can say that hasn’t already been said, not much more to write that hasn’t been written about this team. After battling for the first 15 minutes and pulling to within 3 after falling behind early, the wheels fell off again. There’s no turning this around this year, and there are now many who believe Howard won’t be the guy to right the ship going forward.
None of that seems to be affecting him. If anything, Howard has been more stoic this year, seemingly resigned. And to his credit, his mind has been on the players he brought here who are on the verge of finishing last in the conference, a first for a Michigan team since 1966-67.
“These young men, they sacrifice a lot. They’re competitors, and they’re also prideful competitors,” Howard said. “It hurts when you lose ball games, and then when you look at the scoreboard and you’re losing by 20 or 30, it’s not a time where you beat them up mentally. It’s a time when they need me as a leader (even) more.
“I’m not going to ever stop coaching them no matter what, if we win or lose, because what these young men do for me and my staff, I really appreciate tremendously.”
Michigan was without role player Jace Howard as well as Youssef Khayat (illness). Howard implied they could have helped.
“We aren’t here to make any excuses. The guys back home, they’re included in this,” Howard said. “We really needed them. At the same time, with the illnesses they’re dealing with, we hope they get better.
“But overall, I just really admire how our guys have been handling this season. It’s not easy, by no means. When you show up every day in that losing column and come to practice, work hard, and still try to be positive throughout the process … and then you come in after the game, you see some sad faces … guys with tears in their eyes. It hurts me to the core because I feel I let them down. That’s the last thing I want them to do is feel like they’ve been let down by their leader.”
But that’s the reality, and there doesn’t seem to be a fix. Michigan State is next up, Saturday in Ann Arbor, and the Wolverines are once again relegated to trying to play spoiler in the rivalry.
For a program that was among the elite in college basketball for several years, that’s a new low in a season that gets lower by the game.
