Jalen Rose Strongly Endorses Juwan Howard For Head Coaching Position
Former Michigan star Jalen Rose made his position clear about the open head coaching position.
On ESPN’s Get Up Friday Morning, Rose fully endorsed his former Michigan teammate and current Miami Heat assistant coach Juwan Howard for the role.
“So now that there’s a vacant job in Ann Arbor, let’s do a blank canvas of who should be the number one candidate and to me, that should be a no brainer,” Rose said on Get Up. “There’s a guy named Juwan Howard that’s from Chicago that means he’s going to be able to recruit that market.
“Not only was he an All-American in high school, came to the University of Michigan, was a member of the Fab Five and he was the first person to sign his letter of intent. In theory he helped recruit each one of us.”
Rose’s advocacy for Howard stemmed from Howard’s time with the Heat and his development as a coach.
“He’s earning his chops under a championship coach like Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat and the tutelage of Pat Riley,” Rose said. “He’s currently being interviewed for NBA jobs … This is just a legit thing of someone who happens to be in the pipeline and Michigan has a head coaching vacancy. He would be the perfect person to help embody what it took to be culturally relevant because he helped [create] the culture.”
Both Rose and Howard were part of the Fab Five and Rose said that if Michigan were to hire Howard, it would help signal an embrace of that group.
“It would mean that the hatchet is officially buried and that would be an amazing domino for someone who truly deserves it,” Rose said. “Juwan Howard has coached summer league, he’s earned his dues. He’s sat behind the bench, he’s sat on the bench.”
Rose likes the professionalism Howard would bring to the program.
“He was always the adult in the room amongst us,” Rose said. “You’ve never seen Juwan Howard without a haircut. You’ve never seen him without a crease in his pants. You’ve never seen him undisciplined and he was a technician out on the floor.”
While Rose wants to harken back to a previous era of Michigan basketball, he also credited John Beilein with helping to reestablish the program.
“I think he did a terrific job helping put Michigan basketball back on the map,” Rose said. “We know about the NCAA title appearances. We know about the Final Fours. I have nothing but admiration for what he did for my alma mater.”
In addition to Rose’s endorsement of Howard, ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams also said that Howard should be the next head coach of the Wolverines on Get Up Friday morning.
Williams clarified his comments he made earlier this week about getting Howard to change Michigan’s culture.
“That was in no way any slight to John Beilein,” Williams said on Get Up. “I know he got them to two championships, but I was bringing back the point that when I was a kid from the inner city around Newark, I knew what Michigan basketball was because of the Fab Five. I think there’s no better representation of that then Juwan Howard and the tutelage he’s had under Pat Riley.”
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