12

Thursday, June 6, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Warde Manuel spoke directly, 
with certainty and confidence.
“We looked at many,” Manuel 
said. 
“Broad 
scope. I stand 
here today with 
my choice.”
Before 
Juwan Howard 
had 
stepped 
to the podium 
as 
Michigan’s 
new basketball 
coach 
and 
before 
a 
question had been asked, Manuel 
answered the day’s biggest one. 
Since John Beilein left, a coaching 
search unfolded and ended last 
week with Howard, there has 
been a not-so subtle implication of 
nepotism that has come with the 
discussion of Howard.
Howard 
has 
the 
requisite 
qualifications, it starts, but would 
he be in this position if not for his 
association with the Fab Five? 
Manuel, who has never had a 
hiring of this magnitude in his 
hands completely, must be under 
pressure 
from 
donors. 
From 
regents. From Jalen Rose and 

Chris Webber; LeBron James and 
Dwyane Wade.
The 
athletic 
director 
acknowledged as much seconds 
later, noting Howard’s resonance 
with the university, its fans and its 
donors.
But, outside pressures being 
as they may, this decision was 
Manuel’s to make. His choice. His 
gamble.
“There’s a whole lot of bunch 
of adjectives like that, that have 
already been used, and that’s fine,” 
Manuel said. “If I’m gonna take a 
risk for somebody, they’ll see why 
I took the risk and the gamble — 
and all the things you all say about 
what could possibly happen — 
with Juwan Howard.”
To be clear, it is a gamble and it 
does run a risk of failure. So would 
any other. That is beside the point.
Beilein left the Wolverines 
with little warning in mid-May — 
when the coaching carousel had 
already slowed. The candidate 
pool, inherently, was thinner than 
it might have been a month or 
two earlier. And, even if Manuel 
had his pick of the lot, it would be 
impossible to hire another Beilein.

The best coach in the history of 
the program doesn’t come around 
often. Particularly not when that 
coach is Beilein, who ran things in 
a way unique throughout college 
basketball.
Howard hasn’t been in college 
basketball. He isn’t familiar with 
a world where a slip of the tongue 
can be a recruiting violation, and 
admitted as much 
on Thursday. Even 
without his ties to 
the Fab Five, the 
likelihood that he 
recruits programs 
like Mac Irvin Fire, 
the way his name 
alone makes heads 
turn — that makes 
him 
inherently 
antithetical 
to 
Beilein.
And that is fine.
Juwan Howard isn’t here to 
build on John Beilein’s legacy. He’s 
here to make his own. There are 
no shortage of basketball reasons 
to think he can.
Howard 
comes 
with 
endorsements 
from 
Pat 
Riley 
and Erik Spoelstra, two names 

that should carry more weight 
than his former teammates. He 
succeeded as an assistant in 
Miami, unequivocally so. The 
Heat won titles when they had the 
requisite talent, and outperformed 
expectation anyway when they 
didn’t. Howard was a repeated 
candidate for NBA job openings 
for a reason — he’s developed 
a 
well-earned 
reputation 
as 
a 
good 
basketball 
mind, and someone 
who connects with 
players.
There’s also the 
intangible — which 
was on full display 
Thursday 
when 
Howard 
stepped 
to the podium and 
wiped tears from 
his eyes, needing to gather himself 
before he started speaking.
Yes, it’s concerning that it may 
take some time for Howard to get 
a grasp on the NCAA’s rulebook. 
And yes, it should raise eyebrows 
that he answered a question about 
his basketball philosophy with, 
“Well, it remains to be seen, fellas, 

right?”
The rest of his answer, though, 
speaks to the qualities that got him 
hired.
“But I can tell you this,” Howard 
said. “One thing about me, I’m 
humble. And I don’t have all the 
answers. We’re gonna try to figure 
out solutions together. … Players 
have to be active participants in 
finding solutions. We will create 
this identity together. And we will 
have fun doing it, too.”
All that — the emotion and the 
attitude, the acknowledgements 
that he isn’t perfect and the 
willingness to work on it — makes 
it believable that Howard will put 
in the hours to fill the gaps. This 
is no reunion tour or nostalgia trip, 
nice as those side benefits may 
be. Howard was hired because 
Warde Manuel thinks he can 
win basketball games, first and 
foremost.
But don’t get it wrong. This 
is Manuel’s gamble. The right 
gamble.

Sears 
can 
be 
reached 
at 
searseth@umich.edu, or on Twitter 
@ethan_sears.

Thursday proved why gambling on Howard was right move

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel introduced basketball coach Juwan Howard on Thursday

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel believes that the hiring of men’s basketball coach Juwan Howard may seem like a gamble at the moment, but he trusts that Howard will develop into the coach he wants.

ETHAN 
SEARS
“They’ll see 
why I took the 
risk and the 
gamble.”

