continued...
Today, Howard is in his fifth season at Michigan and a sense of imminent change seems to be growing. A portion of the fan base and some media speak of an end as if it’s a foregone conclusion. They cite diminishing returns. They cite behavioral concerns.
But what they don’t cite is reality. And in reality, Howard is unlikely going anywhere, unless he decides to leave himself.
In his eighth year as Michigan athletic director, Warde Manuel has withstood voices calling for change much louder than what he’s hearing now. He didn’t budge on retaining Harbaugh after 2020, when a 2-4 record in a pandemic-shortened season seemed like an obvious end for the U-M football coach. Manuel also lasted longer than anyone thought imaginable before disposing of hockey coach Mel Pearson in 2022, following an investigation into an alleged toxic culture within the program. That dismissal was, in actuality, dictated as much by the board of regents as it was by Manuel.
That’s not to say Manuel hasn’t fired any head coaches. He disposed of men’s and women’s lacrosse coaches in 2017, and terminated a women’s soccer coach in 2022, a women’s water polo coach in 2022, and a women’s volleyball coach in 2022. Notably, as Connecticut AD, he fired head football coach Paul Pasqualoni after an 0-4 start in 2014.
But Manuel’s modus operandi has long been clear. He’s more inclined to wait and see than he is to act and react. The same is likely to go for Howard, making all the current conjecture out there moot.
What’s far more likely is Howard being granted the opportunity to reboot the program after this season. What would that look like? It’s anyone’s guess, but Harbaugh successfully pulled it off post-2020. Odds are Howard will have the chance for his reset. Staff changes. A roster overhaul. A new model for recruiting both the high school ranks and in the transfer portal. A new course of action for generating NIL abilities. There will need to be a plan, and it will need to be executed.
The prerequisite for Howard making such changes, though, is surviving to get there. As long as Michigan can navigate the remainder of this season without going entirely off the rails, and avoid further unnecessary embarrassment (something that’s apparently harder than one would imagine), he will likely have the chance.
The current team has its shortcomings, yes, but it competes. Rallying for an NCAA Tournament berth doesn’t seem plausible, but neither does some ghastly 3-17 or 4-16 conference finish, though that theory could be tested.
“I think we are a bunch of guys that want to see each other win, and a bunch of guys that understand that we’re gonna have our struggles,” senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua said after the Ohio State win.
Despite those struggles, the current team has some nice players. They simply haven’t fit together. The current makeup feels like a roster of individuals who could excel as the No. 3 or No. 4 option on a great team. Problem is, there don’t appear to be any No. 1s or No. 2s. That’s the byproduct of an odd juxtaposition.
While the program slipped in recent years, it also produced four underclassmen NBA Draft picks over the last two offseasons — Moussa Diabaté, Caleb Houstan, Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard. All but Diabaté were first-round picks. The other 13 Big Ten schools combined to produce nine early-entry draft selections.
On one hand, it feels like a glaring inability to capitalize on talent. Not only did those NBA picks play in Ann Arbor, but they all lined up alongside All-America center Hunter dikkinson.
On the other hand, all of the above were given heavy minutes as underclassmen at a time when the pandemic shapeshifted college basketball into an older man’s game. Each was talented, but none was ready to carry a college program. That’s not their fault; it’s the program’s for not making it work.
Today, Houstan is averaging 5.0 points in 16 minutes per game in his second season with Orlando. Diabaté has played sparingly in two years with the Clippers. Bufkin missed time with a thumb injury and is currently with Atlanta’s G League affiliate. Howard began the year as a deep reserve in Orlando before being assigned to the G League in late December.
The result is a complete lack of roster continuity, a dynamic only exacerbated this season by Howard’s on-again, off-again appearances
after offseason surgery, and now a point guard that only plays home games.
“Something that a lot of people don’t realize about our team is that basically 11 guys on scholarship are in their role for the first time,” Nkamhoua said.
It’s tempting to theorize what Michigan might look like this season if it retained any of its young talent. But that comes with the territory when relying on top-50 recruits.
It’s also tempting to wonder what might have been if some recent high-profile transfer-portal commitments,
including Caleb Love, hadn’t been denied admission to the university. But that’s what comes when recruiting upperclassmen transfers into a school like Michigan.
Regardless of why, Michigan hasn’t won enough. Howard’s team is 5-19 in games decided by six points or fewer or in OT over the last two seasons, including a 1-6 mark this season. His coaching is regularly questioned. But he’s also the same coach who won a 2021 Big Ten championship and twice reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
While the focus here and now will be on the back half of Michigan’s league schedule, a larger eye should reside on what’s coming next. At least four scholarships will be open for next season. Two three-star recruits are signed (Christian Anderson and Durral Brooks), while top-30 recruit Khani Rooths is committed, but remains unsigned.
It’s probably fair to expect a much broader overhaul than that — on and off the roster — but probably not in the head coach’s office. Howard has two years remaining on a contract extension signed in November 2021, back when he was the reigning national coach of the year.
Feels like a long time ago.
Especially during a season to forget.
it's to the point I hope this team keeps losing
whole program is in shambles. Sad part is that after this footballl championship does the school even cares about the basketball program now
I'm happy Jalen sitting courtside to see this so that when Juwan is fired or resigned in a few weeks he can't say Michigan did him wrong. Team his straight 
burn the whole thing down and start over.