Media reacts to Juwan Howard throwing punch, setting off melee vs. Wisconsin
Juwan Howard and the Michigan Wolverines dropped a critical Big Ten showdown to Wisconsin on Sunday, but the story of the game — and the story making its way around the college basketball landscape — has little to do with the game itself. Instead, the talk of Twitter was centered around Howard’s postgame scuffle.
Things got heated between Howard and Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard after the final buzzer. After the two exchanged words, players began pushing and shoving and the incident reached its peak when Howard appeared to swipe at a Michigan assistant coach.
As the clip made its way around Twitter, reporters and hosts across the country began reacting to Howard’s actions, which could very well result in a lengthy suspension.
“Don’t care who’s FAULT it is,” FOX Sports host Colin Cowherd said. “This is embarrassing by Juwan Howard. Gotta do better as a HC.”
“A head coach is a symbol for a program and its university. There is no place for this AT ANY LEVEL of sport,” Jon Rothstein said following Howard’s punch. “A significant suspension is coming.”
ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg had a similar reaction, reiterating that there is no place in college athletics for Howard’s actions.
“Coach Howard: I’m from the Southside of Chicago is not an excuse for that type of behavior. You are representing one of the great universities in the country,” Greenberg said. “You are not on the Southside you are leading players at a world class institution. Accountability.”
Greenberg doubled down on his take, circling back to another heated exchange involving Howard last season.
“This is not Juwan Howard’s first incident. Last year if you remember he had an ugly incident in the (Maryland) game with Mark Turgeon,” Greenberg tweeted. “This needs to be addressed on all levels. This is embarrassing. Fwiw coach your own team. Your opponent will coach their team.”
“The more I see the video, the more disturbing it is. This is why Woody Hayes was fired. Juwan Howard needs to be suspended for multiple games,” The Athletic’s Seth Davis said. “As I mentioned, this is not the first time this has happened with him and another coach. Zero excuse.”
“This is not good for Juwan Howard,” Jay Williams put simply. “Not good at all.”
Jay Bilas agreed with the field, pointing out that this incident is made worse by what started it. Gard opted not to let the clock run in the final moments of a blowout. He chose to call timeout and keep his team playing hard despite a huge lead, and that seems to have invoked Howard.
“Coaches getting in a postgame fight. Not players, coaches. Calling timeout and pressing in a blowout instead of running out the clock, and can’t shake hands without acting like big babies,” Bilas said. Weak and foolish. There are multiple degrees of culpability, none more than Howard. Awful.”
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm made a rather broad proclamation on Howard following the incident, circling back to the same fact that Greenberg pointed out — it’s not Howard’s first incident.
“Juwon Howard has now had two incidents with opposing coaches in the last 12 months. He doesn’t just need to be suspended, he needs help,” Palm wrote.