Michigan fires coach Howard after 8-24 season

• Jeff Borzello, ESPN

  • Staff WriterMar 15, 2024, 02:07 PM ET Close Basketball recruiting insider.
  • Joined ESPN in 2014.
  • Graduate of University of Delaware.Juwan Howard was

fired as Michigan’s guys’s basketball coach, the school revealed Friday, ending a five-year run in Ann Arbor for the former Fab 5 member.Michigan simply finished among its worst seasons in 60 years, ending up last in the Big 10 for the first time considering that 1966-67. The Wolverines lost their final 9 games, consisting of Wednesday’s Big 10 competition defeat to Penn State, to end up 8-24 general and 3-17 in the league.

“After an extensive review of the program, I have decided that Juwan will not return as our guys’s basketball coach,” athletic director Warde Manuel stated in a declaration. “Juwan is among the best Wolverines to ever be associated with our basketball program. I understand how much it suggested, to not just Juwan, but to everyone for him to return here to lead this program. Despite his love of his university and the positive experience that our student-athletes had under his leadership, it was clear to me that the program was not measuring up to our expectations and not trending in the ideal direction. I am grateful for Juwan’s dedication, enthusiasm and commitment to U-M and for all that he, and his legacy, will continue to suggest to Michigan.”

Michigan owes Howard $3 million, sources informed ESPN.Editor’s Picks

1 Associated Howard underwent a scheduled heart procedure in September to resect an aortic aneurysm and fix an aortic valve, requiring him to miss out on the start of Michigan’s season. He went back to the bench throughout the Wolverines’ journey to the Bahamas for the Fight 4 Atlantis as an observer, before transitioning to an assistant coach function for two weeks. Before he returned as head coach, he was likewise involved in an incident at practice with strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson, a run-in for which he avoided any discipline.He formally returned to the bench as head coach on Dec. 16 against Eastern Michigan. After beating the Eagles to improve to 6-5 on the season, Michigan won just two games the remainder of the way.While Howard’s time at Michigan ended in frustration, he

revealed considerable guarantee early in his college coaching career. Worked with in 2019 to replace John Beilein, who had left for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Howard assisted the Wolverines to a 19-12 record in Year 1 and would have gone to the NCAA competition had it not been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Year 2 brought Michigan’s first NCAA tournament No. 1-seed considering that 1993, as Howard and the Wolverines won their very first Big 10 regular-season title given that 2014. They made a go to the Elite 8 before falling to UCLA by two points. Howard had Michigan back in the Sugary food 16 the following season, regardless of an underwhelming 19-15 total record.Howard was suspended for 5 games in February 2022 for striking Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the face after a game. Throughout the postgame handshake line after Wisconsin’s 77-63 win, Howard and Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard exchanged words before being surrounded by players and coaches. In the taking place scrum, Krabbenhoft exchanged words with Howard and after that Howard reached out and struck Krabbenhoft’s face.Things started to go downhill last season. Despite having All-American Hunter Dickinson and 2 first-round NBA draft chooses in Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard, Michigan missed the NCAA tournament after losing its final three games to end up 18-16 overall.In Howard’s 5 seasons at the helm, Michigan went 87-72. A former star hire who was a member of the famous Fab Five, Howard made All-America honors and helped lead Michigan to back-to-back national championship games. He spent 19 years as an NBA player, winning two NBA championships with the Miami Heat and being chosen as an All-Star in 1996. Following his retirement, he was an assistant coach for six seasons with the Heat.