SPORTS 11
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
As Howard’s tenure takes shape, confidence remains strong
Amid the excitement of Juwan
Howard’s
introductory
press
conference, there was an undeniable
uncertainty ringing though Crisler
Center. Neither Howard nor his
players could speak to his on-court
strategy and when asked about
recruiting, Howard’s response was:
“I haven’t just pinpointed exactly like,
I’m going after the five-star, one-and-
dones or I’m going to recruit three-
star kids.”
That uncertainty has persisted.
Howard made his first 2020 offer to
five-star guard Joshua Christopher,
seemingly signaling a change from
John Beilein’s methodical recruiting.
But then, barely 24 hours later, his
second offer came — to Jabri Abdur-
Rahim, a four-star forward also
offered by Beilein.
The point is, no one knows exactly
what Howard will bring to Michigan,
on or off the court.
And yet, within the program, the
refrain is that none of that matters —
at least not yet. Outside the program,
those who have interacted with
Howard maintain the same stance.
“Number one, I know he’s well
respected in the NBA, and has really
grinded it in coaching the last few
years,” one high-major head coach
told The Daily. ”I actually watched
his press conference, cause above all,
I’m just a fan of college basketball. I
thought the emotion and passion he
had at his press conference spoke for
itself. So I’m a huge fan and I’m really
pulling for him. I think it’s a great
hire.”
Among the calming assurances
regarding Howard’s inexperience
is his reputation in the NBA, where
he followed a 20-year playing career
with six years as an assistant coach
for the Miami Heat. Over the past
two offseasons, Howard’s reputation
landed
him
six
head-coaching
interviews.
But why then, if Howard is so
respected and if his future success
is treated as a certainty, have none
of those six teams extended a head-
coaching offer?
For at least one team — the
Cleveland Cavaliers, where Howard
interviewed last month — the answer
is clear: they found their man. His
name is John Beilein. The similarities
between the two, though, are more
than meets the surface.
“You talk to Juwan and you talk to
(Beilein), obviously they’re different
people, but I think they have very
similar values,” Mike Gansey, the
Cavaliers’ assistant general manager,
told The Daily. “They’re not overly —
they don’t scream and yell, they’re not
super aggressive. They’re more laid
back, positive kind of guys.”
Then,
he
paused,
perhaps
providing some insight into why
Cleveland
ultimately
settled
on
Beilein.
“Obviously, coach Beilein is an
excellent Xs and Os guy. And Juwan,
we don’t know yet.”
That difference will eventually be
critical. And at some point, Howard
will have to figure out those Xs and
Os. But for the six NBA teams who
interviewed him, the signs pointed to
that happening.
For Gansey and the Cavaliers, the
biggest was six years’ experience
working under Erik Spoelstra and Pat
Riley. That, along with endorsements
from those who had worked with
Howard, landed him an interview
with Cleveland. From there, his
personality took over.
“When you sit with him for six,
seven hours, you know he’s a really
good person, you can just feel it,”
Gansey said “You hear it from
everyone else and you see it, but until
you really sit down and talk to him,
then you really feel it — he’s all that.
There’s not a bad bone in his body and
he’s positive, he works.
“It’s just the Xs and Os and just
getting used to being a head coach
that I think will take a little bit of
time. But he’ll figure it out.”
As for the never-been-a-head-
coach stigma, Gansey is careful to
note that Howard has coached in the
summer league, giving him live-game
head-coaching experience that he
didn’t have as an assistant. Recruiting,
though, is something Howard didn’t
have to deal with in the NBA, and
it showed in his uncertainty at last
week’s press conference.
The common rebuttal has been
the well-circulated story of Howard
recruiting the rest of the Fab Five
as the group’s first commit, which
ignores that strategic aspect of
constructing a recruiting class — a
hurdle that Howard has already
encountered. Andy Borman, a well-
known AAU coach whose players
have been recruited by former NBA
stars-turned-coaches such as Patrick
Ewing and Chris Mullin, emphasized
the importance of Howard hiring
experienced assistants to smoothen
that transition.
Less than a week after Borman
spoke with The Daily, Howard hired
Phil Martelli, the longtime Saint
Joseph’s coach and definition of a
home run hire if your top criteria is
experience.
And then there’s the name.
“I think it’s the name Juwan
Howard, I think it’s the name Fab
Five, I think it’s also the name
Michigan,” Borman said. “He’s a big
name, talking about a school that
checks so many boxes.”
Howard, though, left Michigan in
1994. His best NBA season was 1996.
Cristopher was born in 2001, Abdur-
Rahim in 2002.
So the natural question follows,
does Juwan Howard’s name matter
to recruits?
Borman
scoffs,
pauses
and
answers.
“It’s not like they’re recruiting in
the 80s. Right now, with social media,
with the internet, with YouTube.
I turned on the TV (after the hire)
and everything I see about Juwan
Howard is him when he was a college
player and when he was a pro. So even
though his days as a player predate
these kids, it’s not like they don’t have
access to it.
“… He obviously has a pro
background and I think that is so
relevant to kids nowadays. Because
what do they aspire to be? They
aspire to be pros.”
The questions — whether they’re
about recruiting or Xs and Os —
are constant. And as Howard’s
answers begin to take shape, so is the
confidence in him.
Additional reporting by Ethan Sears
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor
Manuel presents fiscal year numbers, highlights athletic achievements
The University announced its
projected budget for the athletic
department at the end of June. It
projects a balanced budget for the
2020 fiscal year — which began
July 1 — after finishing with a $1
million surplus in the 2019 fiscal
year.
Last year’s surplus is a result
of $190.7 million in operating
revenues against $189.7 million in
operating expenses. The projection
for fiscal year 2020 is based on
$196.3 million in revenues and
expenses.
The 2019 operating surplus of
$1 million fell short of its budgeted
amount of $2.5 million. The
discrepancy is due to “higher-than
budgeted transfers to the deferred
maintenance fund,” according to
a release from associate athletic
director Kurt Svoboda.
In his presentation to the Board
of Regents on June 20, athletic
director Warde Manuel shared
several projections for the new
fiscal year. Among them are a
$3.1 million increase in spectator
admissions revenues, an increase
of $2.8 million in conference
distributions due to an increase in
conference television revenues and
an increase in salaries, wages and
benefits by $2.9 million.
Along
with
information
regarding the fiscal year budget,
Manuel highlighted achievements
by the athletic department, on
and off the field. Included was a
record 372 student-athletes named
Academic All-Big Ten Conference.
Seniors Siobhán Haughey from
the women’s swimming and diving
team and Robbie Mertz from
the Michigan soccer team were
recipients of the Big Ten Medal of
Honor. The Wolverines also had 47
student-athletes earn All-Big Ten
first team honors and 10 athletes
earn
first-team
All-America
honors.
From a departmental standpoint,
Michigan received eight NCAA
Public Recognition Awards — a
result of ranking among the top-10
percent in the Academic Progress
Rate
report.
It
also
finished
in the top 10 in the Directors’
Cup standings in 13 sports. The
Directors’ Cup is an award given
by the National Association of
Collegiate Directors of Athletics,
based on points allocated for
teams’ results in various NCAA-
sponsored championships.
JORGE CAZARES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan men’s basketball coach Juwan Howard will begin his first season as coach
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Athletic director Warde Manuel presented before the Board of Regents on June 20