They both talked to the media after the Big Ten Tournament loss.
A historically bad season for the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team ended familiarly Wednesday night, as inconsistent defense, too many turnovers and a broken offense led to a 66-57 loss to Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament .
The Wolverines finished the season with an 8-24 record, and last place in the Big Ten with a 3-18 record against conference opponents. They broke the program record for losses in a single season and had their fewest Big Ten wins since the 1966-67 season.
It’s been a tough season for Juwan Howard, who was asked after the loss if he’s had conversations with athletic director Warde Manuel or any Michigan administrators regarding his future with the program.
“No, I have not,” Howard said. “We’ll go back home, we’ll all sit down and meet, me and the players. And I’m sure the athletic department wants to sit down and talk, and I’m looking forward to having those types of conversations.”
Manuel has shown support for Howard all season, including last month when he said he hasn’t thought about changes in the program.
“Not the season we expected,” Manuel said to The Michigan Insider after the loss. “The effort never backed off, and for that I am proud.”
The last part of that quote is hilarious to anyone who has watched this team this season, as fans could see the team giving up in the second halves of many blowout losses. When pressed further about a potential timeline for a decision to be made on Howard, Manuel did not provide additional comments.
Meanwhile, Howard was understandably frustrated when asked about his future with the program after another disappointing loss.
“I didn’t know I was being interviewed at this time,” Howard said, in reference to a job interview, when asked what his pitch would be to continue as head coach. “At this time, we lost a tough game, this is a heartbreaker for me and my staff as well as our players. It’s going to be tough to sleep tonight, for all of us.”
Howard didn’t start the season with the team after having heart surgery, returning in mid-December . He had the doctor who operated on him speak to the team after a win against Eastern Michigan University, and Howard provided an update on his recovery after the loss.
“Health-wise, just two weeks ago, I started to turn the corner and feel a lot better,” Howard said. “Mobility, getting out of bed improved. Sleep improved. My conditioning level, and I still go through rehab three days a week, has improved. My health is truly improving day in and day out. I look forward to coaching next year.”
The offseason has officially begun for the Wolverines, who will need to show some signs of improvement after missing the NCAA Tournament two seasons in a row.
“There are going to be a lot of decisions made when the season ends, obviously the season just ended,” Howard said, when asked if he’s confident he can turn things around. “We will regroup tomorrow and we will sit down and talk as a staff on our needs, our wants, and at the same time — I trust we will do a great job in executing that plan.”
Graduate student guard Nimari Burnett and senior forward Terrance Williams II also spoke to the media after the game. When asked about the culture within the program, they reiterated the sentiment we’ve heard all season about how tight-knit this group is, despite how poorly this season has gone.
“It’s really family-oriented,” Burnett said. “Even though this season didn’t go the way we wanted it to, we all were bought in. It sucks, but this group has been connected. It’s the most productive (8-24) team I’ve been a part of. I don’t regret any time spent with these guys. They’re like brothers to me. It sucks because we all went through it together, but I feel like we’ve all become stronger men with higher character because of it.”
“Y’all probably didn’t see that on the court, but I feel like we were a family off the court,” Williams said. “Behind closed doors, I feel like our culture is good. I think coach Howard’s been doing a good job and he’s going to continue doing a good job trying to lead us to become better on the court and off the court.”