Michigan has suspended Juwan Howard for the remainder of the regular season following Sunday’s postgame altercation between the Wolverines and Wisconsin, per release. The news was first reported by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports.
The Wolverines will be without Howard, the reigning AP National Coach of the Year, for their final five games of the regular season as they push for an NCAA Tournament bid. He will miss home games against Rutgers, Illinois, Michigan State and Iowa in addition to the regular season finale at Ohio State before he is eligible to return to the Michigan bench in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. In the meantime, associate head coach Phil Martelli will serve as the team's interim head coach.
In addition to Howard’s five-game suspension, forwards Moussa Diabate and Terrance Williams II are each suspended for Wednesday’s game against the Scarlet Knights. Howard was also fined $40,000.
Sunday’s brawl broke out after Howard appeared to slap Badgers’ assistant Joe Krabbenhoft, who made physical contact with Terrance Williams II and Jaron Faulds. That came on the heels of a heated conversation between Howard and Wisconsin coach Greg Gard. Howard claimed he was upset with Gard, who took two timeouts in the final minute despite a comfortable double-digit lead.
Howard later provided a statement accepting his suspension.
"After taking time to reflect on all that happened, I realize how unacceptable both my actions and words were, and how they affected so many," Howard said. "I am truly sorry. I am offering my sincerest apology to my players and their families, my staff, my family and the Michigan fans around the world. I would like to personally apologize to Wisconsin's Assistant Coach Joe Krabbenhoft and his family, too."
"Lastly, I speak a lot about being a Michigan man and representing the University of Michigan with class and pride, I did not do that, nor did I set the right example in the right way for my student-athletes. I will learn from my mistake and this mistake will never happen again. No excuses!"
Wisconsin, however, received no suspensions. Gard and Krabbenhoft escaped unscathed, with the former facing only a $10,000 fine and the latter facing no discipline at all. Meanwhile, junior guard Jahcobi Neath was suspended for one game. Neath, Diabate and Williams can all be seen throwing punches on video.
“I didn’t like the timeout being called,” Howard said. “I’ll be totally honest with you. I thought it was not necessary at that moment, especially being a large lead. To have a timeout be called with three seconds or four seconds to go, I thought that was, what I felt, wasn’t fair to our guys. So, that’s what happened.”
Displeased, Howard attempted to walk through the handshake line without stopping. That’s when Gard appeared to touch his chest and stomach in order to physically stop him and explain the timeouts. The two coaches exchanged words, forcing their coaching staffs and players to restrain them.
“Basically, I addressed it with (Gard) that I will remember that, because of that timeout,” Howard said. “For someone to touch me, I think that was very uncalled for, for him to touch me as we were verbalizing and communicating with one another. So, that’s what ended up happening and that’s what escalated it.”
The Big Ten released a statement Monday night addressing the discipline.
“Big Ten Conference coaches and student-athletes are expected to display the highest level of sportsmanship conduct,” Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said. “I am grateful for the partnership with Michigan Athletics Director, Warde Manuel and Wisconsin Athletics Director, Chris McIntosh. Our expectation is that the incident yesterday will provide our coaches and student-athletes with the opportunity to reflect, learn and move forward in a manner that demonstrates decorum and leadership on and off of the court.”
Manuel issued a statement later in the evening, revealing he spoke to McIntosh and apologized for the Wolverines’ actions. McIntosh, who addressed the media immediately after the melee, was adamant the Badgers did nothing to instigate the fight despite Gard’s physical contact with Howard.
Additionally, the conference claimed Manuel “proactively addressed” Howard’s punishment, which goes beyond the maximum two-game suspension and $10,000 outlined in the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy.
With just a week left in February, losing Howard is a major blow to the Wolverines’ NCAA Tournament aspirations. In a season defined by inconsistency, Michigan will now have a new leader at the helm, albeit temporarily, through at least March 6.
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