Juwan Howard has been fired as head coach at the University of Michigan, the school announced Friday, ending the former Fab Five member's five-year tenure in Ann Arbor.
The University of Michigan is coming off its worst season in 60 years, finishing last in the Big Ten for the first time since the 1966-67 season. The Wolverines lost their final nine games of the season, including Wednesday's loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament, and finished 8-24 overall and 3-17 in league play.
“After a comprehensive review of the program, we have decided that Mr. Juwan will not return to coach men's basketball,” athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement. “Juwan is one of the greatest Wolverines to ever be a part of our basketball program. I can't believe how much it means to him, not just to Juwan, but to all of us, to have him come back here to lead this program.” Despite his love for his alma mater, we don't know if the program has lived up to our expectations given the positive experiences our student-athletes have had under Juwan's leadership. It was clear that we were not moving in the right direction. We are grateful for Juwan's dedication, passion and commitment to UM, as he and all of his legacy will continue to be relevant to Michigan.”
Michigan State owes Howard $3 million, sources told ESPN.
Howard underwent scheduled heart surgery in September to remove an aortic aneurysm and repair his aortic valve, forcing him to miss Michigan's season opener. He returned to the bench as an observer during the Wolverines' trip to the Bahamas for Game 4 against Atlantis, then transitioned into an assistant coaching role for two weeks. Prior to his return as head coach, he avoided any discipline due to an incident and altercation during practice with strength and conditioning coach John Sanderson.
He officially returned to the bench as head coach on Dec. 16 against Eastern Michigan. After defeating the Eagles to improve to 6-5 on the season, Michigan narrowly won its remaining two games.
Although Howard's time at Michigan ended in disappointment, he showed great promise early in his college coaching career. Howard, who was hired in 2019 to replace John Beilein, who left for the Cleveland Cavaliers, led the Wolverines to a 19-12 record in his first year and would have been on the pitch had the COVID-19 pandemic not canceled the season. He would have been in the NCAA Tournament.
In his second year, Howard and the Wolverines won their first Big Ten regular season title since 2014, giving Michigan State its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1993. They advanced to the Elite 8, but lost to UCLA by two points. Despite an unimpressive overall record of 19-15, Howard led Michigan back to the Sweet 16 the following season.
However, things started going downhill last season. Despite featuring All-American Hunter Dickinson and two first-round NBA draft picks in Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard, Michigan dropped its final three games of the season to fall to 18-16 overall. They lost and missed out on the NCAA Tournament.
In Howard's five seasons at the helm, Michigan went 87-72 overall.
A former star recruit who was a member of the famous Fab Five, Howard earned All-America honors and helped lead the University of Michigan to back-to-back national championship games. He spent his 19 years as an NBA player, with the Miami Heat he won his NBA championship twice and was named an All-Star in 1996. After his retirement with the Heat he served as an assistant coach for six seasons.