ANN ARBOR, Mich. — From the moment Juwan Howard took the stage at his introductory press conference, the new Michigan head coach could not contain his emotions nor his love for his university.
“I said I wasn’t going to cry,” said Howard. “Guess that never happens when you are excited about something special to you that means so much."
Twenty-five long years after playing in his last game with the Wolverines, Howard has finally returned home. The long time NBA Assistant had no plans to be a college coach but that all changed when the Michigan job become open.
“I’ve always been asked by friends and family, would I ever coach college basketball. My answer has always been there’s only one job, there’s only one school, that would look back and peruse and that’s the University of Michigan,” he said.
Having never been a head coach at any level before, Howard already has his fair share of doubters. Michigan AD Warde Manuel is not one of them.
“I read the risk and the gamble and the whole bunch of adjectives that have been used and that’s fine,” said Manuel. “If I’m going to take a risk with someone, you’ll see why I took the risk.”
“I can tell you this,” Howard said. “I’m humble. I don’t have all the answers. We are going to try to figure out solutions together and we are going to have fun doing it to.”
First order of business for Howard is finding a staff. He says that search is already underway as he is already talking to candidates.
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