Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
    View Today
    Sun, Nov 5

    Juwan Howard proves doubters wrong to win college basketball coach of the year award

    Fab Five member shows he can coach and recruit for Michigan
    Apr 2, 2021
    PHOTO: AP

    MICHIGAN’S decision to hire Juwan Howard raised a few eyebrows.

    The former member of the Fab Five certainly had the coaching chops after spending six years as an assistant with the NBA's Miami Heat. The question was whether he would be able to recruit. He had never done it before and the list of former NBA players who flamed out as college coaches is a long one.

    Turns out, Howard can recruit and coach.

    Howard was named The Associated Press men's college basketball coach of the year on Thursday (Friday, Manila time), receiving 35 of 63 votes from a national media panel. Gonzaga's Mark Few was second with 16 votes, and Baylor's Scott Drew and Alabama's Nate Oats each received five.

    "Coach Howard does an elite job," UCLA coach Mick Cronin said before his team beat Michigan in the Elite Eight. "He doesn't do a good job. He does an elite job. When your team is as organized as they are on both ends and plays as physical and tough as they do, that is a reflection of their coach."

    The 48-year-old Howard returned to coach his alma mater after John Beilein left for the NBA in 2019. He led the Wolverines to 19 wins before the 2019-20 season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic and took another, bigger step this season.

    The Wolverines reached as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25 and finished No. 4 after a 19-3 regular season. Michigan lost starting guard Isaiah Livers to a foot injury during the Big Ten Tournament and lost to Ohio State in the semifinals, but still had a good enough resume to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

    ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

    The Wolverines reached the Elite Eight, but fell just short of their second Final Four the past three NCAA Tournaments with a 51-49 loss to UCLA.

    "He's a high-character dude who treats everybody like family, so to be able to see someone like that succeed when a lot of people doubted him— he put his name up there," Michigan senior guard Eli Brooks said. "It's fun to play for Juwan and he's a great guy, so I'm happy for him."

    He's also proven to be an adept recruiter.

    MORE FROM SPIN
    MORE FROM SPIN

      Howard's first class was tops in the Big Ten and No. 14 nationally, according to the 247 Sports composite. His 2021 class is ranked No. 1.

      "As far as what Coach Beilein built, he did a phenomenal job and built a winning culture," Howard said. "The players he recruited were high character, excellent students, come from great families. The players that I recruited and joined the culture and my staff, what we've built thus far in the beginning stages has been beautiful."

      CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓
      Watch Now

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

      Read Next
      Watch Now
      Sorry, no results found for
      PHOTO: AP
    • POLL

      • Quiz

        Quiz Result