Michigan Basketball: Fans, alum want Juwan Howard for head coach

Michigan basketball is going to interview Juwan Howard on Tuesday and right now, it seems he is the favored candidate among fans and alumni.

When John Beilein first left for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Michigan basketball job opened up, there was a long list of candidates.

The potential options in the minds of fans and analysts ranged from Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan to Chris Beard, Jay Wright and Tony Bennett. Mike White and LaVall Jordan were also mentioned among some others including Juwan Howard.

When Howard’s name was first mentioned, some didn’t view it was a realistic possibility. For one, Howard doesn’t have any head coaching experience and that is something Warde Manuel said he wanted when he outlined his criteria for the job.

It soon became apparent that Stevens, Donovan, Beard, Wright and the other big names like Mike White weren’t interested in leaving their current positions. Howard, who played in the Fab Five for Michigan basketball, quickly became a favorite along with LaVall Jordan and Texas head coach Shaka Smart. Ed Cooley of Providence also emerged as a candidate.

White was also still getting some mention from fans and commentators but it’s unclear if Michigan has ever actually pursued him. Jalen Rose endorsed Howard as the best candidate.

Some fans were reluctant, citing concerns about recruiting or a lack of experience. On Tuesday, one day after Beilein announced his departure, we conducted a Twitter poll and asked fans to choose between Howard, Jordan, White and Porter Moser who got some early discussion. Then, Howard got most of the vote but his number was at 39 percent, just ahead of Jordan at 32 percent and White at 29 percent.

At this point, there still hasn’t been much talk about White or Moser and by the end of the week, the four names that were being talked about the most were Howard, Jordan, Smart and Cooley.

Each of those guys either has ties to Michigan basketball or ties to the search firm and they all make sense for their own reasons. While Howard doesn’t have the resume of the others, he does have deep ties to Michigan and on top of Rose, Chris Webber and even Jake Long endorsed him for head coach, adding to a growing group of alumni calling for him to get the job. Jimmy King backed his former teammate Saturday night too.

Webber offered his endorsement during a broadcast of the NBA playoffs. Reggie Miller also said Howard should get the job and in an article by the Detroit Free Press, Stan Van Gungy gushed about Howard and talked about what he likely learned under Erik Spoelstra.

In addition to Howard’s ties to Michigan basketball, he is a hot candidate in the basketball community, interviewing for multiple NBA head coaching jobs already this offseason. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes a head coach and if he could recruit like Penny Hardaway at Memphis or even close to that, it would be a huge success.

Howard is reportedly going to interview for the job Tuesday and according to Michael Spath, if things go well and he convinces Manuel that he truly wants the job, he feels like the guy.

While Howard seems to have all the momentum, there still questions, like does he want this job as much as he wants to be a head coach in the NBA? Is he going to commit to the Wolverines long term? Those are my biggest concerns. I think in terms of coaching and recruiting, he will be great.

It seems that a lot of fans agree. We did another Twitter poll, which started last night and contained the top four candidates right now according to most reports and that’s Howard, Smart, Jordan and Cooley.

Jordan got 32 percent of the vote in our previous poll but this time around, he only got 12 percent. Howard was easily the top pick, getting 63 percent of the vote. Smart got 13 percent and Cooley matched Jordan with 12.

In a poll on our Facebook page that is still ongoing, we presented the option of Howard or Smart. Currently, Howard is getting 86 percent of the vote.

Some believe hiring Howard would be a mistake, while others think it would be a great fit. He’s a rising star in the coaching ranks, has connections to Chicago and the midwest and coached under one of the best offensive minds in the NBA.

Beilein was great but he wasn’t a great recruiter. If Howard can get Michigan basketball some five-star talent, the Wolverines could continue this run and keep contending for national titles.

One thing I like the most about Howard is that he knows from personal experience that Michigan basketball can be elite. He played in two national title games and an Elite 8 for UM and if he’s hired, my bet is he would work extremely hard to help the Wolverines finally breakthrough for the first time since 1989.