Juwan Howard returning as Michigan basketball coach after incident with staffer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Juwan Howard will return to his role as Michigan’s men’s basketball head coach beginning with Saturday’s game against Eastern Michigan and will not face discipline for an incident involving longtime strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson, athletic director Warde Manuel announced Friday. Phil Martelli was Michigan’s acting head coach for the first 10 games while Howard recovered from heart surgery.
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Howard had surgery on Sept. 15 to resect an aortic aneurysm and repair his aortic valve.
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“Juwan Howard will return to the Michigan bench Saturday (Dec. 16) against Eastern Michigan in his total capacity as head coach,” Manuel said in a statement Friday. “Coach Howard, his doctors and our medical experts remain aligned in taking this next step as he recovers from a September heart procedure.
“We greatly appreciate associate head coach Phil Martelli’s guidance of our program on an interim basis to start the season. I want to personally thank Phil for what he has done in the past few months to lead the program. We will continue to benefit from his wisdom moving forward.”
Howard, in his fifth season as Michigan’s head coach, has been on the bench as an assistant during his recovery. His return comes as Michigan’s human resources department is reviewing an incident that occurred last week involving Howard and Sanderson, who was not on the bench for Sunday’s victory at Iowa.
“Based on a thorough internal review, nothing was found to warrant disciplinary action for anyone involved,” Manuel said. “As such, we will move forward with a focus on our team and our season.”
The Athletic previously reported that Howard and Sanderson had a heated verbal dispute that arose after Jace Howard, Juwan’s son, questioned a trainer about why he hadn’t been cleared to play. Jace Howard has yet to play this season while recovering from a stress fracture in his right knee and tibia. Saturday is one of three remaining nonconference games for the Wolverines (5-5), who will meet Florida on Tuesday in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., and return home to face McNeese State on Dec. 29.
What does Howard’s return mean for Michigan?
Friday’s announcement resolved two lingering issues for Howard and Michigan: his return to full head-coaching duties following surgery in September and the human resources review of last week’s incident involving Howard and Sanderson.
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Howard has been serving as an assistant coach as he followed a 12-week recovery period outlined by his doctors. He was ejected from a game against Texas Tech at the Battle 4 Atlantis, and Martelli acknowledged Howard’s return to the bench was “a little bit bumpy” at first. Howard has been coaching the team in practice, so the main adjustment will involve coaches’ roles during games.
Friday’s announcement cleared the way for Howard to coach the remainder of the season, but questions about his future will persist, especially if the Wolverines continue their inconsistent play. Michigan is 42-36 since making the Elite Eight in 2021 and started this season 5-5 with losses to Long Beach State, Memphis, Texas Tech, Oregon and Indiana. Even if no one faces discipline for last week’s incident, it wasn’t a positive reflection on the program. Howard has a lot riding on the remainder of this season.
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
