Michigan head coach Juwan Howard first played with assistant coach Howard Eisley at the 1991 Olympic Festival in Los Angeles.
The two coaches paths diverged after that with Howard going to Michigan and Eisley heading to Boston College, but they are back together again, this time in Ann Arbor. Howard added Eisley to his first coaching staff at Michigan.
In a MGoBlue.com video, Eisley talked about how he and Howard had kept in touch and always wanted to coach together, even if neither expected it to be at Michigan.
“It’s crazy because we always talked about working together or wanting to work together,” Eisley said in the video. “No, we never thought it would be at the collegiate level.”
When Howard was filling out his staff, he reached out to Eisley and he wanted to be a part of Howard’s staff.
“It started off as texts initially,” Eisley said. “But then once we got the phone conversation, it was a no brainer. Everything just aligned itself and looked great.”
Eisley loves being back in Michigan after he grew up in the state. He played high school basketball with former Fab Five member Jalen Rose at Southwestern High School in Detroit.
“It’s so exciting being from here, the Detroit area to be able to come back home, it’s a homecoming for me,” Eisley said. “I know everybody talks about a homecoming for Juwan [Howard], but it’s a major homecoming for me as well. All my family is back here. So I have the opportunity to be back and revisit family, to see family more regularly has been huge for me.”
Playing in the NBA for 12 seasons, Eisley gained valuable experience and bounced around the league, playing for eight different teams.
While playing with the Utah Jazz, Eisley’s future became clearer.
“I never wanted to coach,” Eisley said. “One of my coaches, Jerry Sloan, told me that when I was still playing that you were going to end up coaching one day. I looked at him like he was crazy, but here I am. I got the itch. I still have the itch. I love it. The other thing that’s [I really wanted] is to [move] into college to be able to impact kids.”
Coming to Michigan and college basketball, Eisley thinks his personality will meld well with what is needed at this level.
“I’d like to think that I’m a pretty genuine person,” Eisley said. “Having relationships are things that need to be built over time. Being able to be honest with people and give them honest answers. Sometimes it might not be the answer they want to hear, but I think at the end of the day, people will respect your honesty. To me, that’s very important.”
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