During a recent interview with college basketball insider Andy Katz, Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May covered a variety of topics which included the long-term relationships with his players, optimism for the upcoming season, and everything in between.
In the later part of the 17-minute episode, Katz asked May about former Wolverines coach Juwan Howard, who was a member of Michigan's illustrious "Fab Five" along with Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson, and Jimmy King, and his son Jace was even coached by May in the coach's first season, leading the team to the Sweet 16, losing to the Auburn Tigers.
And May was very positive in his remarks about his predecessor, who was let go by the school after the 2023-24 season, and now currently serves as an assistant coach to the Brooklyn Nets.
"Juwan Howard, he had some misfortune, I would call it. Some things didn't go right, and then he had the health issue," May said to Katz on the latter's podcast. "Juwan Howard can coach basketball. His first couple of years, they were as good as any team in the country, and he was National Coach of the Year."
Howard was named AP Coach of the Year in 2021, but an altercation in a game against Wisconsin in February 2022 led to a multi-game suspension and another dispute with Jon Sanderson, Michigan's former strength coach, in December of 2023 did not sweeten any deals for the two-time NBA champion, but a heart problem that required surgery in September 2023 certainly had to be a pain to Michigan fans and players, seeing a former player such as Howard who was as passionate as anybody about the game be taken away from it by something out of his control.
"Yeah, some things happened, it didn't work out, but his love for Michigan is much much deeper than that team he coached or that current moment," May said to Katz.
The fifth overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, Howard would be named to the 1996 NBA All-Star Game and was a two-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013, the final two years of his playing career.
With the legacy Howard installed and that continues to be pushed by May, Michigan basketball should be well-equipped for whatever challenges the future throws at the team.