It’s that time of the year again, when — like what happens with football coach Jim Harbaugh in December — all the think pieces come out linking Michigan basketball head coach Juwan Howard to NBA jobs.
Despite coming off of a very disappointing season, where the Wolverines may have two first-round NBA draft picks, yet couldn’t do anything in the lowly NIT last month, Howard appears to be a hot name in NBA coaching circles.
247Sports put out a piece on Tuesday morning discussing hot names for NBA coaching jobs, and along with Jerry Stackhouse, Howard was the other prominent name discussed by author Eric Bossi. Bossi thinks that a move just down the road to the Detroit Pistons makes sense for the Wolverines’ head man.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Michigan means something to Juwan Howard. For coaches that don’t have strong ties to their alma mater in the way that Howard has to U-M, sure, it makes sense that they’re keeping their eye on the next level.
Could Howard depart? It’s possible, especially with Jett Howard, his son, moving onto the NBA. But Jace is still on the roster, for one, and it would take a lot of frustration with NIL and the college basketball landscape to pry him away from his beloved Wolverines. Sure, there is precedent, kind of — John Beilein had those frustrations and bolted for the Cleveland Cavaliers job, unceremoniously. (Beilein is currently in the Pistons’ front office.) But no, it’s beyond unlikely that Howard moves on, unless he got some kind of indication from the athletic department that it’s in his best interest.
So, it’s likely another year, another baseless rumor coming from a mill that loves to put Jim Harbaugh back into the NFL and Juwan Howard back into the NBA. Because some cannot even envision that a coach would want to be at their alma mater if there are pro options available.
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Story originally appeared on Wolverines Wire