Olivier Nkamhoua discusses the impact of Juwan Howard's return

The Michigan Wolverines were helmed for the first time this season by head coach Juwan Howard on Saturday in the 83-66 win over EMU. After returning from heart surgery recovery – and an interesting week within the program – things felt a little more normal on Saturday in Ann Arbor.

Forward Olivier Nkamhoua came to Michigan to play for Howard and even though he had been steadily working his way back in over the last several weeks. But Saturday was finally what was planned.

“It was great,” Nkamhoua said after Saturday’s win. “He brings a good energy and we’ve been slowly and steadily working up to it. And it was just honestly good to see him out there being a part of it, and being able to do what he does and coaches and being involved, the whole process, not just kind of behind the scenes or as a background character, he’s the head coach.

“He’s someone that we all love and respect. Just a good thing to see, him being healthy, him being on the sideline and doing what he does.

“It was really dope just to see him start us off, be the first person to talk to us, and him being in such a good mood. It brings everybody’s energy up, and the personality that he has helps everybody just pick themselves up.”

Saturday’s game saw Michigan finish with six players in double figures, led by Nkamhoua’s 17 points. It was the second night in a row where the Wolverines had a balanced scoring output, which could be a key as the team tries to work its way back into NCAA Tournament-caliber form.

“I feel like any good team, any great team, you want to have a lot of guys that can step up because relying on one person, it gets rough because everybody’s going to miss, everybody’s going to have bad nights,” Nkamhoua said.

“But then we have everybody clicking on all cylinders at the same time, then you’re on a roll that’s kind of unbeatable. It just makes the game a lot easier for everybody. It takes pressure off everybody.”

Of course, the week that led up to Saturday’s game was headlined by a heated confrontation between Howard and Michigan strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson, which ultimately led to an HR report being filed by Sanderson about the situation.

Athletic director Warde Manuel announced Friday that Howard would return and nobody would be disciplined for the reported friction. But for Nkamhoua and his Michigan teammates, it was all about staying on task.

“When something like that arises, coming together was the biggest part of us relying on each other and having that conversation of it having nothing to do with us,” Nkamhoua said. “It’s really not what we need to focus on.

“We’re here to play basketball. We’re here to win games. We’re here to have fun and do what we do. We’re all young men trying to make ourselves a better future. And that’s just a distraction that we don’t need to focus on. Let the people behind the scenes handle that. I just keep emphasizing my to my team to not worry about it.

“Don’t put any emphasis on it. It shouldn’t affect anything that we do. We’re still going to have to go on the court and we’re still going to have to play and win these basketball games. So just, let that be as what it was an unfortunate event and focus on what we got to”

Michigan is next in action on Tuesday evening in the Jumpman Invitational game against Florida in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with ESPN carrying the broadcast.