Michigan Wolverines Basketball

Michigan head coach Juwan Howard is reinstating Zavier Simpson after suspending his point guard Monday and forcing him to miss a game against Nebraska earlier this week. 

"After speaking with [Michigan Athletic Director] Warde [Manuel] before today's practice and after my media availability, we agreed to lift Zavier's suspension," Howard said in a statement released by the school. "I am looking forward to moving on from this. Anything further will continue to be handled within." 

Simpson will be able to rejoin the Wolverines when they face No. 25 Rutgers on Saturday afternoon. 

The senior was initially suspended for violating unspecified team rules. The senior, one of the top point guards in the nation, is currently averaging 12.8 points, 8.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. 

"This past weekend I made some disappointing decisions which violated our team rules," Simpson said in a statement. "I accept full responsibility and having to sit out the Nebraska game was part of that. I deserved it and fully supported coach Howard's decision. Not being with my teammates made it a long night, however, it gave me the time to reflect. I know I let my coaches, teammates, and fans down as well as athletic department and community members. More importantly, I let myself and family down. They say you learn something new, or from something, every day and this is one of those times.

"I have apologized to my team and now apologize to everyone who continues to support me as well as our program. I am grateful for the opportunity to get back on the court Saturday and to represent this great university. Go Blue!"

Without Simpson in the lineup, Michigan defeated Nebraska 79-68, snapping a four-game losing streak in the Big Ten. The Wolverines (12-8, 3-6 Big Ten) had previously risen to No. 4 in the Associated Press poll early in the season before falling out of the Top 25 entirely. What started out as a promising season for Michigan in Howard's first year has quickly derailed with the Wolverines near the bottom of the Big Ten standings and 4.5 games back of co-leaders Michigan State and Illinois. 

Isaiah Todd, a 5-star recruit from Raleigh, North Carolina, committed to the Michigan Wolverines on Thursday:

Todd, a 6'10" and 195-pound power forward, is considered the No. 1 player from the state of North Carolina, the No. 2 power forward and No. 12 player overall in the Class of 2020, per 247Sports.com's Composite Rankings.

Jerry Meyer of 24/7 broke down Todd's game:

"A long and athletic forward who loves to play facing the basket. Can score off post moves but has a finesse game. Building strength and mass is a key to development. Can score at all three levels. Handles ball well but decision making is questionable at times. Is a shot blocker but needs to discipline his defense as well as his offense. Known as an upside player, but has been behind the curve on expected development."

Todd has also been having a former star power forward showing him the ropes.

"I've been working with Rasheed Wallace, so we've been getting at it conditioning-wise and attacking the body and everything else will fall into place," he told Sean Moran of 247Sports.com in June. "He works me out pretty hard. Gives me little tips here and there about what works in the NBA and how to utilize the shot clock, but we are just getting started."

Having a player like Wallace as a mentor, who was a four-time All-Star and won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons, can only help a young talent like Todd.

In Wallace, Todd not only has a player who can help him work on his strengths but also improve upon his weaknesses. To his credit, Todd is fully aware that he has elements of his game that need work.

"I need to work on balancing my inside/outside game," he said. "Knowing when to do things, basketball IQ and just being able to be that coach on the floor. Knowing the ins and outs, especially playing with a shot clock and being able to distribute that knowledge to my teammates."

If he continues to improve upon those facts of the game, he'll be a star for Michigan.

Landing Todd is a huge get for the Wolverines, joining 4-star shooting guard Zeb Jackson. He's a huge get for a Michigan team that had a subpar 2019 recruiting class, only landing 4-star small forward Cole Bajema and 4-star small forward Franz Wagner. Todd gives the team some major star power going forward.

Returning to Michigan as the men's head basketball coach turned into an emotional experience for Juwan Howard. 

At the start of his introductory press conference Thursday, Howard stood alone at the podium for more than 30 seconds wiping away "tears of joy" while taking in the moment:

Following John Beilein's surprise departure to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wolverines were left in a difficult spot trying to find a new coach. They went back to their past, bringing Howard back 25 years after he left the program to begin his NBA career.

Howard arrived at Michigan in 1991 as part of the famed Fab Five recruiting class that also included Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. 

Michigan also holds a special place in Howard's heart because he made a pledge to his grandmother, who died the day he committed to the school, that he would graduate from college. The one-time NBA All-Star earned his degree in communications in 1995. 

Juwan Howard was hired as Michigan's head men's basketball coach to bring Final Fours and championships to the school, but he's already brought something else—unity among his former Fab Five teammates.

ESPN's Jalen Rose appeared on Thursday's episode of Get Up and said that the hiring of Howard "squashes any drama or any beef" Rose has with Chris Webber. He also said the Fab Five is going to "come together like Voltron."

Michigan announced the hiring of Howard with a video montage featuring some of his playing days on Wednesday:

Rose released a book titled Got to Give The People What They Want in 2015 that revealed he and Webber hadn't spoken in five years and grew apart over time, as the latter didn't participate in as many group activities or take part in a Fab Five reunion or the 30 for 30 documentary.

Charles Curtis of USA Today's For The Win summarized a dramatic back-and-forth in 2018 in which Rose suggested Webber's decision to be an honorary captain for a Michigan football game was to bolster his Hall of Fame candidacy by appealing to media members.

Webber fired back, saying Rose only talked about him to further a media career. Rose denied the idea he needed to talk to Webber at all to advance in his career.

Their former teammate is the one who will apparently bring them together, as Howard will attempt to establish some of the dominance the trio brought the Wolverines in the early 1990s.

The Big Ten program went to back-to-back national championship games during the Fab Five years before it was forced to forfeit wins and take down banners for NCAA sanctions.

Michigan experienced plenty of success under John Beilein—who left to become the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers—as well. It reached two of the last seven national title games, meaning Howard will be under plenty of pressure to continue winning in his first head coaching job.

He at least knows both Webber and Rose will be there to support him if Thursday's comments were any indication.

Juwan Howard signed a five-year contract as the Michigan Wolverines' next head basketball coach, the school announced Wednesday. 

According to the school's release, Howard will earn upwards of $2 million annually with a base salary of $400,000. 

Howard replaces John Beilein, who left after 12 seasons to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 46-year-old Howard was famously a member of the Fab Five, spending three seasons in Ann Arbor before embarking on a 19-year NBA career.

Howard retired in 2013 and immediately transitioned into a coaching role with the Heat. On Tuesday, he received strong endorsements from two stars he coached in Miami: Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.

The Detroit Free Press' Nick Baumgardner and David Jesse reported Monday that Michigan was set to meet with Howard and Providence head coach Ed Cooley as part of its coaching search. Cooley removed himself from consideration Tuesday, confirming he will remain with the Friars.

Howard is clearly a sentimental favorite among Wolverines fans after helping guide the program to back-to-back title games in 1992 and 1993. That support could serve him well in the event Michigan takes a step backward early in his tenure.

Beilein leaves massive shoes to fill. The Wolverines reached the NCAA tournament nine times under him and were national runners-up in 2013 and 2018. Beilein raised the standard of Michigan to heights it hadn't experienced since Bill Frieder and Steve Fisher in the 1980s and 1990s.

While Michigan presents a major test for Howard in his first head coaching opportunity, one can understand why the potential to bring his alma mater its second national championship was too good to pass up. 

NBA legends LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have thrown their support behind former Miami Heat teammate Juwan Howard's candidacy for the University of Michigan head coaching job.

James and Wade reacted on Twitter after Miami Heat Beat reported Tuesday that Howard is in line to lead the Wolverines program:

Howard spent the final three years of his playing career in Miami, winning back-to-back NBA championships alongside James and Wade in 2012 and 2013 before immediately joining the Heat's coaching staff ahead of the 2013-14 season.

The 46-year-old Chicago native, a Michigan alum, has spent the past six years working as an assistant to Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and could take over one of the top jobs in college hoops.

John Beilein, who'd led the Michigan program since 2007, left to become the new head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's his first NBA job after more than four decades in the collegiate ranks.

The success Penny Hardaway is having at the University of Memphis is surely going to get more schools to consider former players in their coaching searches.

Hardaway guided the Tigers to a 22-14 record and an NIT berth during his first year in charge. More impressively, he's attracted the top-ranked 2019 recruiting class with two 5-star and five 4-star prospects, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.

Former players, many of whom the current recruits likely watched growing up, possess a special appeal on the recruiting trail.

Between Howard's connections to Michigan, a 19-year NBA playing career, the time on the Heat bench as an assistant and the support of marquee names like James and Wade, he has all the makings of a home run hire for the Wolverines.

Providence head coach Ed Cooley has reportedly "emerged as a primary candidate" to replace John Beilein as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. 

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported the news, noting Cooley is scheduled to meet with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel to discuss the opening after the Cleveland Cavaliers hired Beilein.

Rothstein said Miami Heat assistant Juwan Howard is another leading candidate.

Cooley coached at Fairfield for five seasons before accepting the Providence job and finished with a 92-69 record and one MAAC regular-season crown.

He has been with the Friars the last eight seasons and sports a 162-110 overall record and seven straight winning records after he was just 15-17 in his first year at the helm. He led the team to a Big East tournament championship in 2014, which kicked off a stretch of five straight NCAA tournament appearances.

It marked the first time Providence made the Big Dance since 2004.

As for Howard, this would be his first head-coaching experience. He has been an assistant with the Heat the last six seasons. He has an obvious connection with the Wolverines, though, seeing how he was a player as part of the Fab Five in the early 1990s and already earned the recommendations of former teammate Jalen Rose and ESPN’s Jay Williams.

Whoever takes over the program will have lofty expectations to fulfill after Beilein led it to the national championship game in two of the last seven years.

Defense, defense, defense. If the Michigan Wolverines continue to advance at the NCAA men's basketball tournament, it will be on the back of their defense.

Just ask the Florida Gators. Michigan smothered Florida on Saturday in second-round play in the West Region, holding the Gators to 34.5 percent shooting from the field in a 64-49 win. Michigan is now off to the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season.

While the Wolverines locked down on defense, Jordan Poole led the offense with 19 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three. Florida's regular-season leading scorer, KeVaughn Allen, was held in check, scoring just eight points.

Zavier Simpson was also excellent in the win, just missing out on a triple-double with nine points, nine boards and nine assists, while Jon Teske added eight points and 10 rebounds and Isaiah Livers chipped in with 10 points off the bench.

It was a team effort for the Wolverines, who have given up on average just 52 points in their first two tournament games. Their defense continues to be suffocating.

But the Wolverines are only going to go as far as Poole can take them. Michigan isn't a good offensive team, and for stretches against Florida on Saturday, the points didn't come easily.

If Poole is cooking, though, the Wolverines will be an extremely tough out.

And Michigan will get to have more scenes like this, too:

Getting consistent scoring from Ignas Brazdeikis—who was the team's leading scorer this season but posted just five points on 2-of-8 shooting against Florida—is also vital for the Wolverines. Poole can be streaky, and if neither he nor Brazdeikis are hitting shots, Michigan's offense often grinds to a halt.

In the regular season, the defense overcame any offensive woes more often than not. But with the competition now stiffening in the Sweet 16, Michigan's margin for error is shrinking.

On Saturday night, however, the Wolverines showed just how dominant they could be, squeezing the life out of Florida's offense. Poole and Co. have an elite ceiling. The question is how they'll fare against elite teams if the offense doesn't show up.

Up next for Michigan is a matchup against either third-seeded Texas Tech or sixth-seeded Buffalo on Thursday.

Charles Matthews led No. 2 Michigan with 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Wolverines beat No. 15 Montana 74-55 in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ignas Brazdeikis posted 14 points and seven rebounds, and Zavier Simpson contributed four points, 10 assists and seven boards.

Sayeed Pridgett scored 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting for the Grizzlies, who fell to Michigan in the first round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

Michigan Needs Best Version of Charles Matthews to Make Deep Run

Matthews played an invaluable role during Michigan's run to the national championship game last season, as he averaged 16.0 points on 53.2 percent shooting during the Wolverines' five wins. Without his fantastic efforts, the Wolverines wouldn't have reached that far.

The same sentiment can be applied to this season: Michigan needs another heroic March from Matthews to make it back to the Final Four. But the gap between Matthews' ceiling and floor is large.

For example, the senior co-captain dropped 21 points and seven rebounds against top-seeded UNC in November. He also posted a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double versus Western Michigan.

However, Matthews has shot just 33.3 percent from the field in his team's six losses this season, and an 8-of-11 effort at Penn State boosts that number. He also made no more than three field goals in a game during a six-contest stretch in mid-winter. Michigan lost two of those six games—both by double digits.

The Wolverines got a glimpse of Matthews' March magic Thursday, however, thanks to 11 points and seven rebounds in the first half alone.

He contributed more than points and boards, as evidenced by this impressive full-court hockey assist:

If Matthews is still bothered by the late-season ankle injury that kept him out for a game, he didn't show it on this play as he ran down the court and finished in the lane with traffic:

Generally speaking, the Wolverines seem to go as Matthews goes. Michigan had no trouble with Montana while the senior co-captain dominated, for example.

The Wolverines will face tougher teams than the Grizzlies down the stretch, but Matthews has proved capable of dominating some of the best competition Division I hoops has to offer.

Another successful postseason could be in the cards for Michigan.

What's Next?

The 29-6 Wolverines will play in Des Moines on Saturday against No. 10 Florida.

The Grizzlies end their season with a 26-9 mark.