New Michigan head coach Juwan Howard’s staff was officially announced last Friday.
Howard retained Saddi Washington, while bringing in Phil Martelli and Howard Eisley to Ann Arbor. Joining Jim Harbaugh’s “Attack Each Day” podcast, Howard discussed his new coaching staff with the Harbaughs.
“I wanted to make sure I had the right guys in place to be there and help serve the players,” Howard said on the podcast. “I took my time picking my staff. I wanted to pick the right guys who I felt like I could learn from, work with, be in the trenches with … This staff is a special staff and I believe that these guys are grinders.”
In bringing back Washington, Howard’s first staff has a connection to the John Beilein era.
“A lot of people are familiar with Saddi’s body of work and the experience he’s had the last few years at the University of Michigan,” Howard said. “The people in the Detroit area know he’s a solid guy with a big heart, he’s a hard worker. He’s smart. Saddi also is a great recruiter.”
Howard also wanted to have someone on his coaching staff that has significant collegiate experience.
Martelli fits that perfectly and Howard said he’s happy to have him on the staff to learn from him.
“Phil is awesome,” Howard said. “He’s a star too. With all the experience he has had throughout the years of college basketball, 24 years as the head coach of St. Joe’s and 10 years as an assistant coach for St. Joe’s.”
The final addition to his coaching staff was Eisley, who was from Detroit originally and played and coached professionally in the NBA.
“Howard is another guy who’s a quality person, hard worker, innovative mind, smart and more importantly, he’s just a good person,” Howard said.
In addition to his staff, Howard retained strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson, which Howard said was huge for the program. He had met Sanderson last year when he was visiting campus with his son and was very impressed with what he heard from Sanderson.
“Jon is just a rock star,” Howard said. “I just felt he would be so valuable with our players in the future and I did not want to change that up at all.”
The coaching staff is in place right as things heat up with recruiting.
“We have unofficial visits that are planned coming up soon,” Howard said. “As far as official visits, I’ve been on the phone recruiting. I have one player who committed to come [visit] in the fall, which I’m excited about. I actually invited him to come during a football game because I wanted him to get that true Michigan experience of what it’s like to be on campus when the students are there and while a football game is happening that weekend.”
Howard said that Thursday is the first day that he and his coaching staff will be able to go out and watch recruits play. The first place they are planning on visiting is Charlottesville, Va., for the National Basketball Players’ Association camp.
July will be a very hectic month for the entire staff.
“That’s going to be a very busy time for us,” Howard said. “Me and my staff will be out. There’s a tournament in LA, the Adidas Gauntlet Tournament. So, we’ll be out in Anaheim watching that. And there’s the Peach Jam. Nike is holding this event that they’ve put on for many years. Lot of talented players go compete in that.”
The staff is also going to be in Atlanta at an Under Armor event, along with going to circuit camps that the NCAA is implementing this season.
While Howard doesn’t have experience recruiting, he does have experience with the NBA 3-point line. With college basketball moving back the 3-point line to the international distance, Howard likes the change and thinks it will give players more space inside the line.
“It’s the next stage up to preparing the guys for the NBA line because the NBA line is further than the international 3-point line,” Howard noted. “I think it’s a nice thing to do. Looking forward to trying it out. We have some really good shooters on our team.”
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