Over the past 24 hours, rumors have been swirling around Michigan basketball head coach Juwan Howard with yet another controversy. Social media was abuzz about the Wolverines head man, but delving more into rumor and innuendo than anything.
On Sunday evening, The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn clarified the rumors, and on Monday, The Detroit News’ James Hawkins expounded.
First, here’s what Hawkins said:
The Michigan men’s basketball program is dealing with another incident involving head coach Juwan Howard.
A program source confirmed a confrontation that involved Howard and longtime strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson occurred during a practice late last week. However, the altercation wasn’t physical, despite several reports on social media suggesting otherwise.
It’s unclear what led to the confrontation or what it was about. According to The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn, the incident is going through a university review process.
Some thoughts:
• I'd expect Howard and Warde Manual to meet this week.
• Disciplinary measures for parties involved could occur.
• It's odd all hell broke loose about this *after Howard coached a game.* (A win, no less.) This went from rumor to forest fire in like 15 minutes.— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) December 11, 2023
As noted, Howard did attend the Michigan basketball game at Iowa on Sunday while Sanderson did not.
Howard has been working back to the team after having heart surgery in September. Phil Martelli has been working as the interim head coach but Howard has returned in an assistant role while he continues to recover.
Michigan basketball hired Howard in 2019, but he’s had a few controversial moments, including striking a Wisconsin assistant in 2021 as well as a well-publicized on-court spat with former Maryland coach Mark Turgeon.
We’ll continue to monitor this story as it develops.