Michigan Basketball: Updating the Wolverines coaching search

Juwan Howard

Hiring Juwan Howard is an ideal scenario for Michigan basketball and it would be a home run for Warde Manuel. He’s liked and endorsed by fans, friends, and several members of the media.

The biggest question is can he succeed as a head coach? At Miami, Juwan logs in head coaching hours in the NBA summer league while spending the rest of his time in the shadow of Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra. While technically the summer league is still head coaching at the professional level, it’s obviously quite a step-down.

Warde Manuel must also consider player development as Juwan has only coached in the NBA and not at the collegiate level. One could make the argument that he had a hand in the development of his sons who are potential NBA prospects and one is already playing in the G-League but it’s not a guarantee.

As long as at least part of the current staff remains on the roster with Howard, the player development should stay consistent.

Juwan has been compared to Patrick Ewing and Penny Hardaway from Memphis – who is bringing in the top class after being on the job since January. If you think the Juwan hire would be risky, try taking a guy straight out of High School as Memphis did with Penny.

The point is that the comparison is telling fans not to worry as much about player development when the pundits are saying Juwan journey should be similar to that of Hardaway’s in that he is projected to bring in top talent based off his name, hype, and history.

“I think while Juwan is not as big a name as Patrick (Ewing) for sure, he is around Michigan.” Former Heat and Piston head coach Stan Van Gundy said of Howard. “And at the University of Michigan. High school coaches, AAU coaches, parents, they’re all still going to know very well the story of the Fab Five and everything else. I think all of that will help Juwan. And from everything I know, he’s got the personal characteristics to be very successful”