Michigan basketball: Jace Howard says 2023-24 squad 'most professional team I've been around'
The Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team went through another tumultuous offseason in terms of roster turnover and construction with plenty of faces moving in and out of the program. Team captain and senior Jace Howard is just ready to get back to work.
Now in his fourth year with the program, Howard is ready to keep his eyes focused on the future and get back to playing winning Michigan basketball. He was sidelined from Tuesday’s open practice to the media while dealing with a knee injury but still loves that the program is back in the flow of things.
“It’s so nice,” Howard said from Michigan’s media day. “I remember that in late June, there were still conversations about who was gonna come and who we might add at that point. Once you get back into practice, you’re just wow, okay, this is what I really missed. This is what we’ve been missing, and it’s the camaraderie of the team and stuff like that. It’’s great to answer questions. It’s been great. Seeing the new faces and seeing what they bring to the team.
“You’re just excited to watch everybody play and it’s been fun as ever. I think we’ve lost a step since then in terms of that excitement and how excited we are to just come to practice and compete against each other. Maybe we’re getting a little sick of each other right now after playing these other scrimmages *laughs* But it’s been fun and we’re just really having a good time with it.”
Michigan lost a trio of stars from last year’s team with Hunter Dickinson transferring to Kansas and Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard heading to the NBA. But the program feels like it added a trio of potential stars with experience in Olivier Nkamhoua, Tray Jackson and Nimari Burnett. Howard sees it coming together as the most business-like group he has been a part of.
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“I think we’re the most professional team I’ve been around in terms of how we carry ourselves and practice off the court,” Howard said. “It’s a business-like approach that we’ve been taking. You feel the level of maturity in this team, and not saying that the other teams weren’t. But I just think this is… we’re an older team. So that’s what you get with an older team. It’s just been that. And I think we’ve just been holding our heads high on our pride and defense.
“We’ve lost a lot, but we also gained a lot. We’ve gained two stars from different programs. Tennessee and Alabama were both top 10 teams and we got two stars from both those programs. And just being able to see that along with Trey [Jackson], it’s been great because we’re starting to get a lot of different perspectives and different leadership roles from different guys. And it’s just been great to see. We have an identity of maturity, leadership and defense.
“But also we can shoot the hell out the ball too. So it’s been good. I think this is the most versatile team I’ve been a part of.”
Howard and Michigan will host a scrimmage on Sunday afternoon at Crisler Center at 3:30 p.m. before opening the season with an exhibition against Northwood on Nov. 3. The regular season begins on Nov. 7 at home against UNC Asheville.
