Michigan Basketball: Scholarship situation is fixing itself, as expected

There was always a concern regarding the scholarship situation for Michigan basketball, but recent developments have changed that.

Juwan Howard doesn’t need to save money when it comes to sending his kids to college. As the head coach of Michigan basketball, he makes around two million dollars annually and that not to mention the over 100 million he gathered as an NBA player. So when the question came up of who was going to be on scholarship and who wasn’t, naturally, his son, Jace Howard, came up in the conversation.

Surely, David DeJulius departing the team for the transfer portal helps out. With Isaiah Todd, Hunter Dickinson, Zeb Jackson, Terrance Williams, and Jace all inbound on scholarships, and potentially Joshua Christopher committing, they were still in trouble.

The recent news, however, has alleviated all the worry.

Jace Howard will walk-on at Michigan.

He deserves a scholarship

Certainly, the 6-foot-8-inch three-star that plays for University school in Miami, Florida deserves a scholarship (348th nationally, 57th SF, 29th FL, 8678 composite) and would have earned one elsewhere, but Juwan did what Juwan does. He does what’s best for his alma mater and he added his incredibly gifted son as a walk-on to the team.

This isn’t a surprising move. From fans to coaches, people have raved about Michigan’s hire even before the amazing run in Bermuda. Howard made one phone call and brought in long time head coach Phil Martelli as a mentor for him; to guide him through the process seamlessly.

Juwan retained Saddi Washington, twice. Saddi was rumored as the front runner for the Western Michigan position which he turned down. Washington is one of the top recruits and most assuredly a future head man somewhere.

And now he sacrifices the perks of a scholarship for his son so that someone (*cough* Joshua Christopher*) will have a spot on the team along with the three other fantastic recruits he’s already brought into the program.

Other news

Christopher hinted this week at a Monday commitment. That could mean we hear sooner rather than later, or that he’s doing what he always does and joking around…again.

As I wrote in a recent article, Monday is a significant day for the Christopher family, it’s his dads, Laron Christopher’s birthday.

Might be smoke. Could be real.

Either way, you can read about it here.

Also, if you weren’t aware, DDJ is departing UM and has not announced where his travels will take him. More news on that front coming soon.