Many have wondered how Michigan Wolverines basketball coach Juwan Howard would handle a potential scholarship crunch next year. There had been plenty of speculation that Howard's son, three-star forward Jace Howard, could even walk-on for a year.
That has come to fruition, Jace Howard told TheWolverine.com Wednesday. Regardless, Hollywood (Fla.) University coach Ron Oliver predicted, the younger Howard is a player who will crack the lineup at Michigan. He averaged 15 points and seven rebounds for an outstanding team that won its district but lost at the buzzer in the regional semifinals.
Tthe numbers don’t come close to telling the whole story, former Wolverine point guard Oliver said.
“The good thing for Jace … the game of basketball has changed so much, and people are looking for kids who want to do the hard things, talking about defending, diving on the floor, making winning basketball plays,” he said. “That for whatever reason is deteriorating in our game. It’s very difficult to find kids willing to do those things.
"Jace is more than willing to do those things. Those are things that help you win. Of course, I follow the Big Ten very closely, and they’re always battling Michigan State. The reality is, they have been able to sustain their success because they constantly have kids willing to do that. I think a lot of people have decided to match that by getting more and more skill players. The way I see it is you also have to match it by getting similar type players willing to do those types of things.”
Jace Howard provides that with improving skill, Oliver continued, to give his dad what he feels will be a necessary presence in the lineup.
“You’ve got to have a mix [with elite talent], but you’ve got to have two or three guys who are going to battle, know that this is what it’s all about. Even if it’s four minutes, just a battle,” Oliver said. “It doesn’t have to be the full 40 minutes. If you lose a four-minute stretch and at team goes up six or eight points, that’s the game.
“You’ve got to have kids like Jace."
Howard and his younger bother, four-star 2022 Jett Howard, have been getting after each other while being quarantined, improving each other's games.
"I'm working out on and off the court six days a week," Jace Howard said.
The current 2020-21 scholarship chart:
Projected 2020-21 Michigan Basketball Roster (as of April 8)
1: Austin Davis, 6-10 5th-Sr. C
2: Eli Brooks, 6-1 Sr. PG/SG
3: Isaiah Livers, 6-8 Sr. PF
4: Brandon Johns, 6-8 Jr. PF
5: Colin Castleton, 6-11 Jr. C
6: Adrien Nunez, 6-5 Jr. SG
7: Cole Bajema, 6-7 So. SG
8: Franz Wagner, 6-8 So. SF
9: Zeb Jackson, 6-3 Fr. PG
10: Isaiah Todd, 6-10 Fr. PF
11: Hunter Dickinson, 7-1 Fr. C
12: Terrance Williams, 6-6 Fr. SF
13: Open
Jace Howard, Walk-on
Michigan is favored to add five-star shooting guard Josh Christopher to the roster soon, while there's Todd's status is still up in the air.
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