Michigan Basketball: 3 things we’ve learned about Juwan Howard as HC

Howard was really smart with his coaching staff

Rarely do you find head coaches that are successful on their own and that’s why it was so good to see Howard put together such a strong staff for Michigan basketball. Those hires were his first big decisions at UM and by all accounts, he nailed it.

Howard understood that he needed an experienced assistant but it would have been hard to find a bigger name than Phil Martelli to add to his bench. It would also be hard to find someone better.

After getting fired at St. Joe’s, Martelli is hungry for success and this is the first chance to recruit for a really big program and he seems excited about it. Just listen to this podcast.

“Not to sound snobbish about it,” Martelli explained in his Podcast Interview. “But I’m going to be going into different gyms now than I would when I was at Saint Joseph’s — looking at different players, the type of players who want to get to the NBA sooner rather than later.”

That’s going to be exciting. His ties to the East coast will be helpful, as will his decades of experience with all the other things it takes to be a head coach. Martelli should be of great use to Howard. The same can be said about Saddi Washington, Jon Sanderson and Howard Eisley.

Each is going to play a critical role in both in recruiting and in player development and to me, it’s a great sign that Howard surrounded himself with such a quality staff.