Duncan Robinson Says Juwan Howard Would Be Great For Michigan Basketball
Former Wolverine Duncan Robinson has a unique perspective about Michigan’s coaching search.
This past season, Robinson played with the Miami Heat and was coached by Juwan Howard, who appears to be a leading candidate for the Michigan job. On the Dak and Dunc Show podcast, Robinson talked about how much he likes Howard.
“I love Juwan,” Robinson said on the podcast. “I think he’s a great coach. I think he’d be great for recruiting … I’ve learned a lot from him this year and he’d be great for the University of Michigan.”
While Howard has spent his entire coaching career in the NBA, Robinson thinks that for Howard, Michigan would be hard to turn down.
“I’ll say this, the only college coaching job I could ever see him taking would be Michigan,” Robinson said. “That’s not because he’s said that or anything. It’s just because, obviously he’s played in the NBA for a while, coached in the NBA for a while, I think he’s had his sights set on being an NBA coach, I just think it’s a little bit different when your alma mater comes calling.”
LeBron James chimed in on Twitter and also endorsed Howard for the Michigan job.
On the podcast, Robinson also talked about how much John Beilein meant to him and the Michigan program.
“I am forever in debt to Coach Beilein,” Robinson said. “Talk about a man who pulled me from a Division III school and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to compete for the University of Michigan. I have nothing but love and respect for him. I’m happy he’s able to make that jump and pursue his dreams.”
Beilein leaving for the NBA wasn’t too surprising for Robinson. He knew it was another challenge for Beilein.
“I think in the back of his mind, it was always something he wanted to do,” Robinson said. “You talk about a guy who literally started his career coaching at Newfane High School. The ultimate come up. High school JV to the highest level there is. Just knowing how competitive he is, I think he just wanted to prove himself on that stage.”
The NBA is a new frontier for Beilein. With zero experience coaching on the NBA level, he will have to adjust how he coaches.
Robinson said he doesn’t think Beilein will have any problems changing.
“Naturally when you go up to that level, the social and relationship dynamics change,” Robinson said. “It’s no longer molding young college kids, you’re coaching men. Men who have a lot of money in the bank. There are egos and that’s a lot of what coaching at this level is. Managing egos … He’s going to have to coach a lot differently than he did in college. There are certain things that he won’t be able to do with those guys that he was able to do with college students. He knows that. He’s really self-aware.”
No matter who Michigan hires to replace Beilein, Robinson is confident that the Wolverines will find the right guy.
“Michigan is going to hire a great coach,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s a top-seven or eight job in the country right now. That’s including the recent success, the Michigan fan base and the brand and everything.”
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