Michigan's Juwan Howard named AP men’s college basketball coach of the year

The Michigan Wolverines fell one game short of the Final Four via Tuesday's narrow loss to the UCLA Bruins, but coach Juwan Howard was nevertheless honored on Thursday as the Associated Press men’s college basketball coach of the year. 

Per John Marshall, Howard earned 35 of 63 votes from national media panel members. Mark Few of the Gonzaga Bulldogs finished second with 16 votes. Scott Drew of the Baylor Bears and Nate Oats of the Alabama Crimson Tide both earned five votes. 

The Wolverines climbed to No. 2 in the AP rankings during the 2020-21 season that included a lengthy pause after the University of Michigan temporarily halted athletic activities because of COVID-19 outbreaks related to a coronavirus variant. Starting guard Isaiah Livers was then lost for the NCAA tournament after he suffered a foot injury during the Big Ten Tournament. 

"Although Michigan getting as far as they did was impressive, there’s no doubt Livers absence led to less cohesion," Trevor Woods wrote for Maize N Brew. "Livers was Michigan’s best three-point shooter (43.1%), and he was stellar from the charity stripe with a FT percentage of 87%. Michigan struggled with the three against UCLA, going just 3-for-11 (27%) from behind the arc. The same can be said about free throws, Michigan hit just 6 of their 11 attempts. Livers’ presence in these areas was missed when it mattered most."

Michigan lost to UCLA 51-49 in the Elite Eight.