WATCH: Phil Martelli thanks Michigan players after final game as acting head coach
Phil Martelli’s time as Michigan‘s acting head coach has come to a close, and he can now return to his primary position of associate head coach for the Wolverines – working alongside Juwan Howard, who was suspended for the team’s final five games of the regular season due to his postgame altercation with Wisconsin staffers on Feb. 20.
While Martelli had to step in for the suspended Howard and serve as Michigan’s primary coach, he led the Wolverines to a 3-2 finish to the regular season – which was capped off Sunday with a 75-69 road win at No. 23 Ohio State.
Following Michigan’s win, Martelli spoke with the Wolverines and thanked them for allowing him to be their acting head coach for the final five games of the regular season – and the locker room echoed with cheers for the veteran coach as a result.
“We will go forward,” Martelli told the Michigan team. “Tomorrow will be a change. So, thank you for allowing me to be with you.”
After Martelli made his comments, multiple players can be heard saying, “Thank you, coach!” – making it obvious that the Wolverines enjoyed playing for him during Howard’s absence.
With Sunday’s win over Ohio State, Michigan finished the regular season with a 17-13 overall record and 11-9 mark in Big Ten play – and most likely earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament as a result.
Martelli reveals thoughts on replacing Juwan Howard during suspension
A veteran college basketball coach who spent 24 years as the head coach at Saint Joseph’s, Phil Martelli is no stranger to the game – so stepping in for Juward Howard wasn’t anything new to him. Prior to leading Michigan for the first time, Martelli met with the media on and offered his thoughts on becoming the Wolverines’ acting head coach.
“I am not Juwan Howard,” Martelli said. “I’m going to be me. So, a small thing: I’ve never sat down during a game. So, there’ll be a chair there, but it’ll be for him – it will not be for me. And I told the players that yesterday, that I’m not replacing Juwan Howard. What we have in place is the way that we’re going to play.
“I’m going to run the timeout the way that I run it, but I’m not going to mimic him. I didn’t mimic him in practice in yesterday and will not today.”