Jim Jackson played against Juwan Howard in Jackson’s time at Ohio State and the two were teammates in 2004 with the Houston Rockets. Jackson is a keen observer of Big Ten basketball in his work as a Fox Sports College Basketball Analyst. We spoke with Jackson at Wednesday’s Big Ten Media Day in Chicago.
Jackson said he will be pulling for his friend to have success as the U-M coach.
“I love the hire,” Jackson said. “Selfishly, I want Juwan to win a lot of games, except against Ohio State.”
Jackson acknowledged that the expectations are high because of Howard’s success as a player in both college and the NBA, and as an assistant coach with the Miami Heat. In addition to that, he inherits the yearly high expectations John Beilein teams had.
“It’s always a challenge,” Jackson said. “I was talking to him earlier [about] the expectation of it. He was successful, the lineage he had at Michigan. People want him to win right away. Plus, following in the footsteps of Coach Beilein and all that he’s accomplished.”
Beilein is the winningest coach in Michigan Basketball history, having sent his teams to three straight NCAA Sweet 16s in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Undoubtedly, there are high hopes and lofty goals surrounding this U-M team, the first without him in 13 seasons.
With the pedigree Howard has in his playing and coaching career, Jackson is confident in Howard’s ability to handle everything that comes with being the U-M coach.
“If anybody can handle [the high expectations], it’s Juwan,” Jackson said.
Jackson knows how important it is to hire a good staff to surround the head coach, especially with Howard being in his first time as the man in charge.
“He’s hired the right staff,” Jackson said. “I think Phil Martelli is a great hire for him in understanding how to navigate through college.”
Jackson feels Howard is in a great spot with the players he has on the roster, including a core group of Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske and Isaiah Livers who have all played in a national championship game.
“Juwan [coming into] this situation couldn’t be better because you have a core that’s already been there and that has been successful that you can lean on,” Jackson said.
“When you have Zavier Simpson to kind of lead the way, when you have a natural born leader like that, a coach can feel secure that he’s going to direct and navigate — not only on the court, but off the court.
“Isaiah Livers has all the talent in the world it’s a matter of taking that next step and evaluating your game,” Jackson continued. “And, I think player development is so important; you’ve seen it with Beilein before and you’ll see it with Juwan. And, it’s not just ‘put the ball in the basket,’ it’s the mental aspect of how you get better as a player.”
Jackson is optimistic and excited about the Howard era and its beginning at U-M.
“I’m as excited as much as anybody for Juwan,” he said.
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