Dusty May: Juwan Howard had 'misfortune' while coaching at Michigan

Michigan men's basketball head coach Dusty May took time to talk to college basketball reporter Andy Katz on Katz' podcast recently.

During the 17-minute episode, May touched on a variety of topics, including the NBA futures of Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, his long-lasting relationships with his players, his excitement for the upcoming season, and more.

At around the 14-minute mark of the episode, May was asked by Katz about former head coach Juwan Howard, keeping the legacy of the Fab Five alive and strategies to continue to keep the Michigan basketball family from different generations connected.

May, who succeeded the former Wolverine coach and member of the Fab Five, coached Howard's son, Jace Howard, last season in a situation that signified unity in the Michigan basketball circle despite Juwan Howard being let go by Michigan the previous year.

While speaking of Juwan Howard, May had nothing but positive things to say about the now Brooklyn Nets assistant coach.

"Juwan Howard—he had some misfortune, I would call it," May told Katz. "Where just some things didn't go right, and then he had the health issue. Juwan Howard can coach basketball. His first couple of years, they were as good as any team in the country and he was National Coach of the Year. Some things happened, it didn't work out, but his love for Michigan is much much deeper than that team (that he coached) or that current moment. And it's been like that across the board. The people who are associated with Michigan take a lot of pride in the brand and the block M, and it's our responsibility to make all of those guys proud with the way we compete and play."

Although some of Howard's issues at Michigan could be categorized as self inflicted, such as his incident with Wisconsin in February of 2022 that led to a multiple game suspension, along with a reported altercation with then Michigan strength coach Jon Sanderson in December of 2023, May is certainly right about some things that took place that were out of Howard's control that ultimately compounded.

May mentioned Howard's successful heart surgery that was performed in Sept. of 2023, which caused him to miss some time that season. Before that, Howard got both Terrence Shannon Jr. and Caleb Love to commit to his program at one point, but neither ended up a Wolverine.

Those two players are now in the NBA and went on to have spectacular college careers. If those two end up in the Maize and Blue to end their college tenures, who knows how things could have turned out for Michigan hoops at that time.

As it stands, the Wolverines have a strong leader in May, who led the Wolverines to a Big Ten tournament championship and a Sweet 16 appearance in his first season in 2024-25.

With his leadership, Michigan basketball looks to be in a good place for years to come, with prominent Wolverine alumni like Howard supporting him along the way.