Michigan Basketball: Why Juwan Howard will succeed with Wolverines

Juwan Howard takes over as the head coach at Michigan Basketball, the latest in a recent trend of NBA-experienced coaches being hired. Let’s take a look at why Howard is different from previous hires and why that’s a good thing for the Wolverines.

There was certainly surprise when John Beilein took the head coaching job of the Cleveland Cavaliers, leaving the Michigan Wolverines after 12 seasons. He led them to a pair of national title games and greatly elevated the trajectory of the program. With Beilein departing, it became pretty clear that Michigan Basketball was not going to hire a coach on his level. This isn’t to say that the next Michigan coach couldn’t develop into a fantastic hire, but these were big shoes to fill.

Former NBA player and Miami Heat assistant Juwan Howard was hired to replace him a few days ago, reuniting an original Fab Five member with the school at which he starred more than two decades ago. Howard was chosen over names like Luke Yaklich and Ed Cooley, with other big name coaches pulling themselves out of this search.

As the search heated up, there was concern shared by some about Howard’s lack of coaching experience, having just a six-year stint with the Heat on his resume. He had never been a coach at the college level, spending his time solely in the NBA since leaving Michigan. This is just the next entry into the recent trend of NBA coaches or assistants around college basketball. However, these hires have not always gone as expected.

Chris Mullin was recently fired after four years at his alma mater, while Eddie Jordan couldn’t do anything productive at his either. Michael Curry failed at Florida Atlantic while Isiah Thomas was a disaster with FIU. Other NBA coaches like Avery Johnson, Mike Dunleavy, and Mark Price have come and gone, unable to stick at the college level.

It’s absolutely fair to argue that failure isn’t guaranteed. Dan Majerle has done a fine job building Grand Canyon, though he’s yet to win a conference title. Patrick Ewing and Penny Hardaway have made great strides in rebuilding their programs, though it’s too early for big results on the court. Jerry Stackhouse and Mark Madsen only just took over new programs.

All in all, there haven’t (yet) been any stories of overwhelming success from NBA hires. Michigan could’ve hired an established coach like Ed Cooley or Shaka Smart or could have promoted one of Beilein’s current (or former) assistants. Why did they dip into that tenuous NBA market and grab another coach without any real experience?

Juwan Howard bucks this trend. His six years as an assistant coach with the Heat have given him enough experience to see how a team is run, though he’ll need to surround himself with talented assistants as he adjusts to life on the recruiting trail. He’s a former star of the Wolverines and he’ll have the support of the fanbase as long as he wins, and this is where this hire is different from many of the rest.

When Dunleavy was hired at Tulane, this was a program without any recent success or relevance. The same can be said about Eddie Jordan at Rutgers, as well as both Curry and Thomas. Mullin inherited a St. John’s team without consistent success in decades. Stackhouse takes on a Vanderbilt program who lost their last 20 games.

Juwan Howard is taking over a program that was in the national title game thirteen months ago. It’s absolutely true that most of the roster will need to be rebuilt, but recruiting at Michigan is much easier than Tulane, Rutgers, or Vanderbilt.

There’s no guarantee that this is a good hire, but Howard passes the eye test. Tommy Amaker was expected to do great things for this program, but failed like Brian Ellerbe before him. The state of Michigan basketball hangs in the balance as Howard looks to put together his first few recruiting classes. There’s no reason to believe he can’t bring the same level of prospects to Ann Arbor; it’ll all just be about how he coaches them up.

The bottom line is that Howard is a risky hire, but he’s a more comfortable hire than some of these names. He has great familiarity and respect within the program and he’ll know what it takes to get his players on the path to a future in the NBA. We may look back at this hire as one that bucks the trend of NBA hires.

However, even if Michigan continues their success under Howard, we must all keep one thing in mind. These NBA hires will bring in top recruits; but it won’t happen if every program has an NBA mind running the show. Juwan Howard is a winner and he has a very great chance to translate that success back to his alma mater.