The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball program has exploded under head coach Juwan Howard much quicker than expected. Assistant coaches Howard Eisley, Saddi Washington and Phil Martelli have helped create a culture that not only picked up where the John Beilein Era left off but has embraced a "national championship or bust" mentality.

They might be ahead of everyone else's schedule heading into year three, but not their own.

"I don’t think we could have asked for a better script," Eisley said on this week's "Defend The Block" podcast with Brian Boesch. "Thus far everything has been going great. According to some other people’s plans, we’re probably a little ahead of schedule of what expectations were when we got here. I’m really enjoying the transition from the NBA here. I just feel like we have a greater impact on young men. That was why I wanted to make the transition.

"Working with our guys has been unbelievable enjoyment for me. One of the things I really appreciated is each team has been different. This year and this team will be different from the aspect of having a good mixture of the most young guys we’ve had since I’ve been here. You’re teaching every year and that’s something I really enjoy doing."

Eisley came with Michigan with an NBA pedigree, but without any college coaching experience. He is similar to his head coach in that regard. However, it is a change that he has been thrilled with so far.

"It’s been great because at the NBA level we tend to focus more on basketball," he said. "Everything is specialized there. Here you’re almost taking on a much bigger role in helping mentor and guide. They lean on you and depend on you and they accept your advice. Especially the ones who have aspirations of playing at the next level. They want to know what it takes to get there. That’s been awesome for me to be able to give back and share.

Coaches with NBA experience know what it takes to get their players to the professional level, but what Eisley and Michigan have been doing goes beyond that.

"We're instilling in our guys here that we want to help them be ahead of the curve where that transition will be seamless," he said "It's documented that a lot of the terminology and a lot of things we do are NBA-based because that's ([mine and Howard's) backgrounds. Those are the things that we are familiar with, so to put them in positions and give them an understanding of what it's going to be expected at the next level, gives those guys a jumpstart and hopefully gives them a better opportunity to succeed at that next level."

Success on the court will bring professional eyes to the program, but the hard work and things being taught by Eisley and the Michigan coaching staff have other applications, as well.

"We know everyone doesn't have the opportunity to play in the NBA, but we are able to really help guys and teach life skills they are going to be able to carry with them throughout the rest of their lives," Eisley said. "And I think we're more focused on that. I think one of the things we really preach and stress is carryover. The way you perform on the court will directly affect, you know, your work ethic and habits that you were doing anything else in your life."

Michigan has seven scholarship newcomers on the roster this season. There is a lot of teaching to do, but Eisley would have it no other way.

“Early on, it seems like we have a great group that gets along. It’s part of the culture that Coach wanted to build," Eisley said. "We don’t look at our guys as being teammates. We look at it as a brotherhood. We do have a lot of young guys and we’ve got to help them, so we find ourselves spending a lot more time teaching and coaching, which is ok. We really love doing that."

With the youth on the roster and the weight of expectations this season, much will be expected of the stalwart players returning to the team.

"We have a good mixture," Eisley said. "We have a couple of guys in our backcourt in (DeVante Jones') and (Eli Brooks) as fifth-year seniors. There’s a lot of experience there. We have Hunter, who played an integral role in our team last year. We’re going to lean on him more than we did last year. We have Brandon Johns. We have guys that have played at a high level before along with bringing in our freshmen to help their learning curve and to be able to help them as well."

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