There has been plenty of debate about whether Michigan basketball head coach Juwan Howard should be retained. For the most part, though, the reporting has been clear: Warde Manuel has supported Juwan.
Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider and John U. Bacon, reported that things were trending toward Juwan Howard staying. However, for the first time, the inside sources are saying something different.
Bacon who recently posted on X that it was “more likely than not” that Howard would be back as Michigan basketball head coach, was saying something different on Tuesday.
“Hearing from insiders that, while Michigan AD Warde Manuel would rather keep men’s basketball coach Juwan Howard, he now seems less inclined to protect Howard’s job. FWIW. We’re getting pretty close to “Nobody knows anything” territory, but that seemed significant,” Bacon wrote on X.
Could Michigan basketball make a change?
The fact that according to Bacon, Manuel is “less inclined to protect Howard’s job” is a change. That’s something we haven’t heard before. But it’s hard to look at the state of the Michigan basketball program and argue strongly for the return of Howard.
Yes, he led the Wolverines to a Big Ten title in 2021. And there have been issues getting players admitted, such as Caleb Love who committed to U-M, but couldn’t get it in and went to Arizona, where he won Pac-12 Player of the Year. Howard also had heart surgery this offseason and missed a huge chunk of the offseason/regular season.
Those are all factors to be considered but so is the fact that Jon Sanderson, a proven and successful strength coach was forced to resign after an incident with Juwan. Sanderson was vital in developing Michigan basketball players into NBA-level talents and he’ll be missed, especially if he goes to Ohio State.
The culture is terrible. Players aren’t playing for each other and the defensive effort has been bad. The fans aren’t supporting the team and it’s hard to blame them. This season has been downright ugly and it feels like keeping Juwan is delaying the inevitable.
Michigan basketball needs to be rebuilt and is Juwan the right man to do it? That’s the question that Warde Manuel will have to answer in the coming days.
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