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

