Three months to the day after the heart operation undergone by Juwan Howard, Michigan was pleased to announce the return of its coach to the varsity team's bench for today's game against Eastern Michigan. On September 15, the former center and member of the Fab Five was on the billiard table to undergo surgery for an aortic aneurysm.
His convalescence now complete, it was the university's sports director, Warde Manuel, who announced his return, not forgetting to thank interim coach Phil Martelli for his balanced record (5v-5d) .
“Juwan Howard will return to the Michigan bench this Saturday against Eastern Michigan as head coach. Whether it is him, his doctors and our medical experts, everyone is on the same wavelength to approach this new stage of his convalescence since his intervention in September”, did he declare. “We thank coach Phil Martelli for guiding our program to start the season.”
A return to a backdrop of controversy
This return of Juwan Howard is, however, marked by controversy, since the former Heat interior clashed with physical trainer Jon Sanderson. The subject of the argument was over Juwan Howard's son, Jace. The insults flew, but the situation did not escalate and the two protagonists were quickly separated. Michigan decided not to follow up on this collision, and no sanctions were imposed.
“Based on a thorough internal investigation, there is no basis for taking disciplinary action against those involved. Therefore, we will look forward to the future, focusing on our team and our season”continued Warde Manuel.
As a reminder, Juwan Howard had already lost his cool in February 2022 by attacking an opposing assistant at the end of the match because of a timeout, which had triggered the start of a general fight and resulted in the suspension from Michigan's coach until the end of the season.
