Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches in 2023 offseason

7. Juwan Howard – Michigan

Born in Chicago, Howard became a star forward and was a member of the Fab Five at Michigan, appearing in the national championship game twice in the early 1990’s with the Wolverines. He was taken 5th overall by the Washington Bullets in 1994 and spent nearly two decades playing in the NBA, winning a pair of titles with the Miami Heat at the tail end of his career. His coaching career began on the Heat’s bench after retirement, with Michigan giving him his first head coaching job in 2019.

Howard’s work with the Wolverines has been pretty successful all things considered. He was named AP Coach of the Year in his second season, leading the Wolverines to a Big Ten regular season title and a trip to the Elite Eight. His last two seasons have been somewhat less outstanding, but Michigan still advanced to the Sweet Sixteen as a relative underdog in 2022. Howard has also won just under 60% of conference games in these first four years.

Things haven’t been perfect in Ann Arbor, but Howard has been a rare example of someone from the NBA having success as a collegiate basketball coach. Those two deep Tournament runs are more than many of the other coaches on this list can claim, and the Wolverines continue to be a threat in this conference under Howard’s leadership. Things didn’t quite go their way this past season, failing to make the Big Dance again, but there’s still reason for optimism in the future.