Michigan Basketball: 5 takeaways on the hiring of Juwan Howard

Howard was the best choice for Michigan basketball

Plenty of Michigan fans were hoping that the Wolverines would be able to go out and land a big-name coach, someone like Billy Donovan or Brad Stevens, maybe even Jay Wright or Chris Beard.

Unfortunately, that just wasn’t going to happen. Michigan is one of the better jobs in the country, especially after Beilein re-established it as a consistent winner. The Wolverines have been to the national title game twice in seven years and the Sweet 16 five times.

Yet, because of the late timing of things, it made things more difficult. At the end of the day though, even if this occurred back in April, Howard might have still been the guy.

Four NBA teams have interviewed him to be their head coach. He has been a top NBA assistant for six years and played in the league for 19 years, in addition to his Michigan connections. Clearly, he is viewed as a bright mind that is an up-and-coming coach, just look what LeBron and D-Wade had to say about him.

Howard isn’t a known commodity. But he was a rising star in the NBA coaching ranks. He also has ties to Michigan and was apparently dying to get this job. Sure,  I would have taken Wright or Beard or Mark Few, but those weren’t realistic. Howard was and for all the reasons listed, he is a great fit.