Michigan Wolverines Basketball: Why Phil Martelli Came To U-M
For the first time since joining Juwan Howard and his Michigan basketball coaching staff, former St. Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli talked with the media Monday afternoon.
Martelli discussed what intrigued him about Howard and why he decided to come to Ann Arbor. Prior to his move to Michigan, he considered going into television and even looked at NBA or NBA International opportunities such as coaching in Switzerland.
Instead, he chose to come to Michigan because of the type of man he saw in Howard.
“My first conversation with Juwan [Howard], I was like, ‘You know what, this is the feel. This is what I’ve been looking for,’” Martelli said. “ I’ve wanted something to touch my heart and it was clear to me that he had an unbelievable love for the University and his school. I could also do something special here. I haven’t really had any second thoughts. I miss my family, but if I didn’t wouldn’t that say something about me. The opportunity to work and not seem like work, that’s what this has been since June when I got here.”
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Martelli got the sense through his first conversation with Howard that he is very good at building relationships. Martelli felt this because Howard was humble and was easy to talk with.
Howard talked with Howard the Monday before he interviewed for the job opening. Later on in the week, Martelli went online to research Howard and as Martelli was reading about Howard’s background, Martelli continued to be impressed by what he found. Howard’s values aligned with Martelli’s.
“Jeff Van Gundy said to me, ‘I’m going to make this really simple for you. He is Jameer Nelson like and to me, Jameer Nelson as a human being is on the Mt. Rushmore of the people I have ever been around in basketball,’” Martelli said. “When he said that, it’s not just a job for me, it would be like a calling to work with Juwan.”
Martelli’s role with Michigan isn’t specifically defined, but what he is bringing to the Wolverines is a wealth of experience.
“I don’t know if I have an actual job in my head, but I know that loyalty and work ethic,” Martelli said. “Obviously I have a bag of knowledge of scheduling a scrimmage as opposed to an exhibition game. How do you maximize this time, particularly like this week. How do we maximize Juwan’s time with wanting to get to USA Basketball and wanting to get recruiting.”
Although each coach’s role is still evolving, Martelli knows that Howard is going to be receptive to anything he says to him.
“What I am very much aware of is [Juwan] is an unbelievable listener,” Martelli said. “He hears everything I am saying, he doesn’t have to do everything because I don’t have all the answers. I think that the job description is to put my back to Juwan’s back and to do it through loyalty and work ethic.”
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