When Michigan first hired Juwan Howard in May of 2019, he heard the criticisms loud and clear.
To some, the hire made little sense. The former Fab Five star had never been a head coach before, and he had no coaching experience at the college level. As a first-time recruiter, few expected Howard to make a seamless transition to the NCAA.
Fast forward 21 months, and those doubts have been replaced by crickets. The third-ranked Wolverines (14-1) are in the driver’s seat for a Big Ten championship. And with the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class set to arrive in Ann Arbor next fall, it appears this level of success might not be an anomaly.