Juwan Howard reflects on 8-23 regular season: 'I feel we have won in a lot of ways'
ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines‘ regular season concluded on Sunday afternoon in a 85-70 loss to Nebraska at home, the team’s eighth in a row and 18th defeat in its last 20 games. Sitting at 8-23 (3-17 Big Ten) on the season, the program has now set an all-time mark for losing in a single campaign.
It is also the first time the Wolverines are alone in last place in the Big Ten since the 1967 season.
That could mean trouble for head coach Juwan Howard, who continues to sell himself as the man to lead the program moving forward. With at least one game remaining in the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis, all of the focus is being put on Wednesday night.
“In basketball, there is still always learning that happens,” Howard said. “In those moments, you grow with your players. There are moments where you take them in practice and whether you show it through a drill you’re doing or whether you show it on film. I will always continue to teach our guys about the game of basketball and how you can grow and become better and a winning team.
“But it also takes the buy-in from everyone and everyone has to get uncomfortable accepting it. We’re going to continue to keep coaching them up, keep teaching. And it’s always one game. We’re going to focus on one game.”
The last three seasons have been a steady decline for Michigan before the bottom dropped out this year. But Howard has guided Michigan to a pair of Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight appearance. The problem now is that it feels like it will be a steeper climb than ever to get back to that.
As of now, he is expecting to lead that hopeful resurgence.
“Well, first it starts with the players and staff,” Howard said. “All of us has felt like this hasn’t been a season we wanted. But the season is not over. I know that a lot of our fans want more. So do we. We’re gonna continue to keep grinding in the gym, keep working to get better. At season’s end, we will evaluate and see areas where we have to improve to get back to what we all been used to is having a very competitive team that has an opportunity to win a national championship.”
Michigan’s product on the court has no doubt been affected by things that have happened off it, whether it be Howard’s emergency heart surgery this offseason, a reported confrontation with longtime strength coach Jon Sanderson, an academic suspension for starting point guard Dug McDaniel and injuries.
The Michigan head coach reflected on all of it, thanking athletic director Warde Manuel for giving him and opportunity to coach the team in the first place, and seemingly making his pitch to remain with the program moving forward.
“It’s been a very strange year in a very strange season,” Howard said. “It started back in the summer when I found out that I had to go and have open heart surgery.
“From there, I didn’t get an opportunity to be myself and to be on the floor teaching every day. Thinking about, when you have an aneurysm, what day it’s going to burst, but knowing that you’re taking medicine to hopefully prevent it from that day ever happening. And then you have surgery and you go through that of not being with your team and being in the hospital for those days and getting myself uncomfortable. What does that mean? There’s the rehab of just learning how to walk again.
“And then after that, elevating, seeing the growth of my health, improving week after week. There were a couple of setbacks here and there, but I’m not going to get into the details of that. But what it helped me gain was that perspective I’m going to keep forging ahead because I know that my team, as well as my staff, needs me.
“And I won’t quit on them because that’s not how I operate. I never did quit anything in life. And we’ve had a season of play and knowing that I’m going to give everything I can to this university, and my team, as well as my staff, because these are the people I love. I love everything about this school. I love everything about my job, I appreciate Warde Manuel taking a chance on me and giving me this opportunity by being a head coach with no collegiate head coaching experience, but at the same time trusting the vision.
“We’re going to grind like no other this summer to work on getting better and getting back to where we’ve all been used to, and that’s winning. But this year right here alone, we have learned a lot. I feel we have won in a lot of ways. And with that, I’m very appreciative of getting the opportunity to coach again. I’d never knew if I would ever have that chance to be able to be a coach for this year. Could easily just at some point say it’s important that I take care of my health, which I was and will continue to keep doing. I could have sat the season out, but that’s not how I’m wired. I felt this team and the staff needed me, and I needed them, too.”
Michigan, the No. 14 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, will play either Penn State, Ohio State or Maryland on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for around 9 p.m. ET with the broadcast on Peacock.
