Nick Baumgardner, Orion Sang and Shawn Winsdor breaks down what they heard at Juwan Howard's Michigan basketball news conference. Nick Baumgardner, Orion Sang and Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press
The tears were shed before he even took the stage.
As Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel welcomed him back home, Juwan Howard sat next to his wife and two of his sons and wiped tears from his eyes.
Moments later, Howard walked up to the podium and cried some more as Manuel presented him with a maize jersey adorning his last name and number as a player – 25.