Juwan Howard met with the media ahead of Thursday night's game against Central Florida and discussed the challenge UCF poses, the challenge that COVID uncertainty and long layoffs pose, and the support from players and staff for the program's former players.

For everything Howard said, check out the transcript below.

On the team's extended layoff and whether it's a positive or negative

"You know, unfortunately what we all are dealing with with COVID and with this new variant, it has put a pause and delayed us from playing. We had to cancel our last game but the most important thing is just everyone being healthy and safe during these tough times. But overall, with the two weeks we dealt with it before last year. Knowing that this is a different team from last year's team, I like what I've seen thus far in practice and we're doing our best to navigate during these tough times."

On Darin Green Jr. and the challenges UCF poses for the defense

"Well, yes, you're right, he's been playing very well. Shooting the ball extremely well from the outside. Also, been able to get downhill by getting into the paint, finishing over people. He's playing with a big load of confidence. He's been a challenge for every opponent they've faced and I expect the same for us. We're going to try to do everything we can to try to make his catches tough, try to get a hand-ball contest every time he shoots it and live with the results."

On the decision to fly to Florida early and whether that was an opportunity for team bonding

"It was great, just after the holiday for our team to get together and spend some more time developing that brotherhood, that chemistry, that family bonding that we've always been about. And with how the traveling situation has been with COVID we wanted to try to get ahead of it, with how flight situations have been with a lot of the airlines with cancellations we were trying to get ahead of it so we didn't have nay problems with arriving here to play the game versus Central Florida. So fortunate enough, we're happy that we arrived safely and it's good that we've been here working hard in practice preparing for our opponent."

On attending the Orlando Magic game last night and team bonding

"We've had fun. We're having a really nice together. It was great to see Franz (Wagner) last night. Franz, I'm sure it's out there publicly, he played very well. Well-played game last night. His performance was at a high level.

"He scored his season-high but unfortunately, I know Franz, what he cares about most is the team win and sadly to say they did not pull out the W but it was great to see that Franz had support in the building, not just from the Magic fans but his Michigan brothers and coaches as well as extended staff members were all there to support him and it was nice just to see Franz play very well."

On the cancellation of the Purdue Fort Wayne game and whether they looked for another opponent

(Laughs) "The Purdue Fort Wayne game got cancelled the day of the game and unfortunately it was very challenging to try to find a new opponent the day of the game. But now that game is past us and we just hope that they're okay and their players are healthy. Unfortunately it's sad that not just the student-athletes at Michigan but all across difference conferences, different schools, we all are dealing with the same thing."

On whether he was consulted on the Big Ten's new forfeiture policy and his thoughts on it

"No, I was not asked about my opinion and when I heard about it I thought it was a great decision that the Big Ten conference made. It's nice to see that overall the leadership is thinking about the big picture. I trust and have always trusted our Big Ten commissioner. He's always been very thoughtful in how they've gone about decisions moving forward for the entire conference."

On Chaundee Brown and Isaiah Livers making their NBA debut recently and what it means to him

"Well, I mean, our guys, they come through the program (and) they are prepared. What I mean by prepared is that they're hard workers, they're great kids that any coach would enjoy having the opportunity to work with and develop because of how they've always gone about it in the time I've been around them and their work ethic, the way how they take the coaching and their passion for the game of basketball.

"And so with Chaundee, his path is different from Franz's path as well as Franz's path is different from Isaiah's path. And with all that being said, they're grinders, so we're going to always pray for them, support them, and know that they have not only just a group of brothers that have been in the trenches with them but coaches that they can always lean on here at the University of Michigan that will always support and have their back and give them any type of confidence and support that's needed."

On whether all players and coaches on the team are currently healthy

"Thankfully so, yes."

On whether rust or anything else is a concern with such a big gap between games

"I've always had this mindset about embrace the suck, so whatever is thrown our way, we're not going to make any excuses for it. When we get the opportunity to play we always are very appreciative and blessed that we're doing something that we all enjoy doing. No matter if it's two days in between, two weeks in between, we're always geared up and excite to have the opportunity to play against competition."

On whether there's something in particular he'll be paying attention to as this is the ast non-conference game before Big Ten play resumes

"Just a hard-playing game for 40 minutes. But first, let's just get to the game. Hopefully we have a game. Just never know. Just take it one day at a time."

On whether the team plans to stay in Florida and attend the Orange Bowl

"We're more focused on our opponent and that's been our mindset: Central Florida."

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