Michigan Basketball’s Juwan Howard calls out lack of NIL opportunities

On Thursday, Michigan basketball head coach Juwan Howard held a press conference discussing various topics, with preparation geared towards preparing for the trip to Europe.

One of the topics that is brought up a ton is Michigan’s NIL department, and it’s effect on recruiting.

Juwan Howard was much more open with the media this time, really giving them his honest thoughts about it. Here’s what he said via 247 sports:

"“NIL is one of these things where it has helped some programs, with what they’ve done in the transfer portal,” Howard said. “For us, NIL hasn’t hurt the team when it comes to recruiting from the transfer portal. Have conversations of NIL been brought up in recruiting? Yes it has. Would I like to see more done for the program, in the sense of things that have happened with other basketball programs? Yes.”"

Juwan Howard did bring up that he’s had engaging discussions with the administration and athletic department in efforts to improve NIL at Michigan.

"“Do we have a collective here? No. Do other programs have collectives? Yes,” Howard said. “Could we be more proactive with the NIL and use more forward thinking? Yes. And I say we, I’m including myself, but our athletic department, as well as Michigan as a whole, we can do better.”"

Juwan Howard speak ups about NIL

Juwan discussed other things, like the trip overseas, what possible rotations Michigan basketball fans could expect this season, and the expectations and improvements he’s seen from the players already on the roster.

I’m so happy though that Juwan Howard spoke his mind. It’s not everyday that we hear a coach’s honest thoughts on a topic, as most of them tend to keep things private to avoid headlines or controversy, but Juwan tackled the topic head-on and didn’t mince words.

I’m also happy that Juwan understands how big of an impact NIL makes on recruiting, and he is open and willing to vouch for the athletic department in an effort to always improve the talent he coaches.

Coaches can’t be completely oblivious to NIL, or ignore it because it can and does have a huge impact on recruiting, and it is refreshing to hear that Michigan has a coach that embraces it.

Now that a coach has publicly called out the university, the ball is in Michigan’s court to help out Juwan Howard more.

The athletic department and boosters need to meet with Juwan Howard to discuss how to proceed and improve, because the discussions need to happen, and things need to improve.

Laslty, I like how Juwan was respectful of the program and the university, but he kept it real, and he backed up his stance. There was no disrespect of anybody, no names were mentioned. All Juwan wants is to see improvements. You have to respect his willingness to speak his mind.

Michigan basketball fans, what do you think of Juwan’s comments? Is he right? Wrong? Sound off in the comments below!