Michigan Basketball: Pros and cons of top head coach candidates
Juwan Howard
Pros: Maybe the guy getting the most buzz right now is former Michigan basketball star Juwan Howard, who worked as an assistant coach to Erik Spoelstra in Miami since 2013. The connections to Michigan are a plus and if you question his qualifications, talk to the NBA teams that just interviewed him for their head coaching positions.
Juwan Howard tells me #Michigan has retained Turnkey Sports for its coaching search. Howard has spoken with them and has been informed that Wolverines AD Warde Manuel is very interested in speaking with him.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 17, 2019
Howard will be a head coach soon. He learned under a great offensive mind in Spoelstra and he is from Chicago so he will be able to recruit there, in addition to some other big connections he has. Jaden McDaniels, a five-star in 2019, is related to Howard and Howard’s son is also promising. The fact that Howard has also played in two national title games at Michigan will help. He will expect to keep Michigan at its current standard and if he could keep Yaklich on staff, it would be perfect.
Trending. Michigan basketball contacts Howard. light
Cons: The negatives on Howard are mostly just unknowns. It’s possible that he goes out and recruits like Penny Hardaway, who has the No. 1 class right now in Memphis or he could struggle a little like Patrick Ewing. Even though he’s from the NBA and been a former All-Star, there will be a slight learning curve with recruiting. Again, he could be great, we just don’t know.
Another thing that we don’t know is what Howard will be like as a head coach because he’s never been one. What kind of a tactician would he be? His teammates have always credited his basketball knowledge, yet what about his game management skills? The NBA should have helped with that, although the rules are different, just saying, those are questions.
The other question is whether Howard wants to coach in college or is his dream being an NBA head coach? It’s understandable if it is, but that needs to be addressed.
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If he’s going to possibly leave in a few years to take an NBA gig, a guy like Smart, Cooley or Jordan might be a better option. We will find out a lot more on Tuesday when Howard interviews for the job. As of now though, he feels like the favorite.