Everything Juwan Howard said pre-Tennessee

Q. I noticed Jalen at the game yesterday as you were leaving the court y'all shared an embrace. I'm curious what you can tell us about what was said and how much that meant to you in the moment.

COACH HOWARD: You really don't know me, right? The media, they know I don't share anything personal, I keep that in house. It was great to see Jalen. He surprised me, I didn't know he was going to be here but there is nothing like having family in the building supporting you.

Q. It's been a while from a win streak, obviously you've had moments in games where you played good, you struggled. In your opinion how close are you guys to putting all the pieces together and just really gearing up for something special here?

COACH HOWARD: We understand we're going to be playing a really good team tomorrow. This team has size. They have shooting. They have great coaching, experienced coaching. Our kids just try to be ready from start to finish, play a competitive game, because that's the type of game we expect them to play. Play Michigan basketball.

Q. Juwan, seems like DeVanté Jones is ready to come back, is that true and will he go into the starting lineup?

COACH HOWARD: DeVanté was out there for more than practice, got out there, got a little lather and it's a game-time decision. I will be on my knees tonight praying he will hopefully be ready to go tomorrow because we're going to need all hands on deck.

Q. Coach, congratulations on the win yesterday. What does Tennessee look like -- I know you guys play in the Big Ten, do they look different than you have seen during the season?

COACH HOWARD: Can you repeat the last part of your question?

Q. Tennessee what do they look like in your preparation throughout your career of coaching at Michigan?

COACH HOWARD: Well, they're a very good team. What I've seen is I mentioned earlier, they have great size, good inside play, protectors, they have shooting from all over the floor, whether they're perimeter or primary ball handler or from Chandler or Zeigler, they also have wings and they have a great coach. He's had a lot of success in college basketball over his years in different programs.

They play in a tough conference which is the SEC. They face teams like Kentucky and many others so I'm expecting it's going to be a very competitive game tomorrow, but yes in the Big Ten we have had a lot of competitive teams that we have faced that are pretty good, too, it would be nothing new to us when it comes to facing size and facing shooting. At the end of the day, we've just got to make sure when we get out there, it's still basketball. It's still basketball. The ball is still orange, and it's still round.

Q. Juwan, I think Villanova is the only team this year that played Tennessee and had fewer than 10 turnovers in a game. What is it they do so well to force opponents to make mistakes?

COACH HOWARD: Defensively they throw a lot of coverages at you, sometimes they will throw two to the ball and blitz, sometimes they will have a soft blitz. There are moments when they put bigs in the drop coverage. They also will switch, 1-5 depending on line-ups they have in there, I've also saw some zone they have played. With those different types of coverages, at times they can either speed you up and cause confusion out there on the floor, some will get you out of the timing of your sets, some of the scoring opportunities that you want to score, whether it's inside or outside. But the key with us, we can't overthink it.

Just be patient, make simple plays and not try to make the whole run of plays.

Q. Tennessee recruited Jet pretty hard. His brother said he came pretty close to picking them. What's it like as a parent when other programs come after your kids?

COACH HOWARD: My wife was more like the lead on that recruiting process. She is also there to help during the official visit. I remember I couldn't go because we had an official visit lined up as well and a very important one that came out to visit Michigan. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to hear the recruiting process even though I had had some opportunities to speak with their staff and assistant coach and head coach, but having your son who now you've got to go through a recruiting war with one of the top programs in the SEC, and Michigan being Michigan, and I couldn't come there as arrogant and say, hey, this is family, family gotta stick with family.

I still wanted my son to choose his school that he felt was best for his college future, because I've already had mine. It's about him, and I wanted him to enjoy the recruiting experience, because he deserved it. He earned that right. Tennessee, being a great program, I left impressed with them, too, but my wife was too damn happy about Tennessee, and Jet was excited about the program and what they had to offer for his development, and he was truly impressed with coach.

So -- Rick Barnes, I'm speaking of. Really came close. He was leaning toward Tennessee and now you look at it full circle. Here we are now in the NCAA Tournament facing each other in the second round.

Q. Were you ever concerned that Jet would choose them or is that not the right word?

COACH HOWARD: I was concerned. I was. I had to ramp up my recruiting and not saying we did not give him the same -- not saying we did not give Jet the same recruiting experience that we would give other prospects but now I can speak of Jet, I won't get an NCAA violation but that's still my family, that's my son, that's my blood. With that I kind of slightly threw that into my recruiting. (Chuckles.) I'm just joking, but, yeah, I did get be concerned. I really did.

Q. You couldn't go on the official visit but if you could speak to the interaction you did have with Rick Barnes and kind of what relationship if any you have built with him?

COACH HOWARD: Yeah, I left impressed, impressed with the man, because I watched him from afar. I have seen his success and how he's turned around programs and things over at Texas and how they played some fun, exciting basketball, always stayed competitive.

I watched him very closely, because there were times when Texas basketball -- and Rick Barnes was there as the head coach when I was playing for the Houston Rockets. There were three years in a row where we had our training camp at UT, so I was familiar with Coach Barnes. Then to get a chance to talk to him, understand the man, being a family man, also heard about a program and how he's helped to develop these guys who have had success in the NBA now like Kevin Durant and TJ Ford. He's had a lot of success in every program he's been involved at.

Q. You talked Kennedy Chandler. What have you seen he's been able to do this season as he's grown over the course of the last three months?

COACH HOWARD: Yes, Kennedy is a special, special player, one of the best point guards in college basketball, in my opinion. The way he's able to make immediate impact right out of high school into the college level, that's impressive. But it also says a lot about the coaching staff and his development and putting him into positions to help lead the team to where they are today. Looked at his shooting, his shooting has gotten better. He shoots 40+ percent from three. He's always known as a playmaker, a guy that can get downhill and can make plays for others. But no one talked about his shooting, and you've just seen how he's worked on it and that's one of his strengths.

He's a high IQ player, he has the same face. I call it the Kawhi Leonard or the Tim Duncan face. He never seems to get rattled or frustrated, from what I've noticed. I've been impressed with how he's mentally stable when things are going good or bad.

Q. Just like you to talk about Caleb Houstan and what he's brought to you and what you think he will mean to you tomorrow.

COACH HOWARD: Caleb Houstan has stepped right in, earned a starting position, loves to be coached. He's getting better and better. I see great things happening for him with the game of basketball while he's here at Michigan and also when he goes on and hopefully plays at the NBA level, which I think he has a chance to.

In the second half he made some really good plays and also some big shoots that we needed, the key to our run. Sprinting in transition, which he's worked on all year, being able to stop on balance and shoot a three with a hand that's flying at you. That's not easy. Also coming off a dribble hand-off and stopping on a dime, and then being able to get downhill and being able to grow in that area and wanting to grow in that area.

Defensively he's been improving. He also has done a really good job with his length of being able to get rebounds for us with his size and toughness. We're going to need it. We're going to need everything. We will need everyone. We will need Caleb, and I know he's looking forward to the big day.

Q. When you are look at Santiago Vescovi on film, what makes him difficult to guard before he even get a shot off, in terms of the way he moves and gets around the court?

COACH HOWARD: You said it. He moves great without the basketball. His feet is always moving. Kind of reminds me of a guy like JJ Reddick, also Duncan Robinson, Clay Thompson, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller. That's pretty special, because obviously he has to have great conditioning, and you can see that he worked on it. But then to be able to read how the defense is playing and whether they're locking and trailing, how to curl it, or if a guy shoots the gap how to step back and shoot the jumper.

Also being able to make a pass and then go back and follow it by setting up your defense by getting them off your body. That's elite level, but it also says he's a high IQ player that knows how to play basketball. I've been impressed watching him on film. He's a tough guard.