Juwan Howard responds to Nik Stauskas' slam of Michigan basketball: 'Caught me by surprise'

Michigan basketball's season hasn't gone the way anybody around the program wanted, and Tuesday's 32-point loss at Purdue, the team's most lopsided in 17 years, served as a breaking point for some.

That includes former All-Big Ten shooting guard Nik Stauskas. The key member of the 2013 national runner-up team, commented on the U-M basketball program's official Instagram page, from his verified account, expressing his discontent shortly after the game went final.

"These kids have no respect or understanding off what it means to put on that M," Stauskas' comment read. "Haven't felt any kind of passion or love for the game from Michigan basketball in years (crying emoji)."

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The post didn't draw attention on social media until after reporters had spoken with Howard and Jaelin Llewellyn following the loss, so Friday night's availability ahead of Saturday's game between Michigan (7-12, 2-6 Big Ten) and Iowa (11-8, 3-5) represented the first opportunity to ask Howard about the comment.

"You heard it, I had friends and family that heard it, read it and it caught me by surprise," Howard said. "Nik is entitled to voice his opinion and I respect the fact that he did voice his opinion. I would love to see Nik come here and come support the program and share with the team and the players how he feels, personally, in person, because I think it will have a huge impact.

"I think it will give the players a chance and opportunity to speak on how they feel about his opinion and that conversation would need to be had on all levels."

Howard said he did not address the subject with the team, nor did he hear from Stauskas directly. The Free Press sent a text message to Stauskas the night he sent the post, but he did not reply.

Howard acknowledged pain stemming from a former player being critical, rather than a fan or a media member.

"It's a different way how you could handle it as well," Howard said. "I'd just rather it not be said or mentioned publicly without having a phone call or being present because then if it's done that way, then I think that's the right way to do it. That's just my opinoin and I'm entitled to my opinion as well.

"But we love Nik, we look at him as part off the Michigan brotherhood, and we respect his opinion."

The Wolverines have lost 13 of 17 since opening the season 3-0. Even then, the season had a stilted start, as Howard underwent significant heart surgery in mid-September, then followed a regimented plan with his doctors as he eased his way back into the coaching rotation. By the time he was back on the bench mid-November in the Bahamas, the season was starting to unfold.

Michigan had lost the week prior at home to Long Beach State, then went 1-2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis; the lone win was a rally from a double-digit deficit against Stanford, which entered Friday ranked 91st in Ken Pomeroy's rankings.

Things got no better with a return to the mainland, as U-M suffered consecutive three-point losses at Oregon and at home vs. Indiana.

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Just when it appeared U-M was righting the ship, thanks to consecutive wins over the Hawkeyes — still the team's only true road win of the season (as the victory over St. John's at Madison Square Garden is technically a neutral-site win) — and then Eastern Michigan in mid-December to get back above. 500, the season took a turn.

It's perhaps no coincidence it came after Howard and former head strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson got into an altercation on Dec. 7; Sanderson, who has led the team's strength and conditioning program since 2009, is the longest tenured member on the staff.

Michigan went on to lose five straight games, the worst skid in Howard's tenure, in myriad ways: Double OT against Florida in North Carolina, at home to a McNeese State team getting a big check, at home to Minnesota, a bottom-tier Big Ten team, a blown 14-point lead against Penn State at The Palestra in Philadelphia, and then a blown 12-point lead at Maryland.

Even a skid-stopping feel-good home win against Ohio State, featuring an abrupt Fab Five reunion in mid-January. only changed the mood for so long. The Wolverines quickly came back to reality with consecutive double-digit losses to its first two ranked opponents: Illinois and Purdue.

The team's leading scorer, sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel, meanwhile, has been suspended for road games since Jan. 10 as he works through academic issues.

It's a far cry from where the program was when Stauskas was on campus.

At this time last year, he reminisced with the Free Press, 10 years later, about his Wolverines' run to the NCAA tournament title game, which included a mid-January week with the program's first No. 1 ranking for the first time since Howard's playing days.

Whatever glimmer of hope remains for this season — the Wolverines are not only last in the Big Ten, but the only conference team below .500 overall — starts with beating Iowa for a second time in 47 days (which would also match their wins against all other teams in the past 63 days).

In early December, Tarris Reed Jr. scored a then-career-high 19 points while a season-high six Wolverines scored in double figures. But Howard liked what he saw on defense even more.

"Defensively, we did a really good job of creating scoring opportunities for us on the scoring end," Howard said. "There's a lot of player and ball movement, he makes you work for all 30 seconds on the shot clock and I just felt like our guys were really locked in on guarding, finishing each possession."

Forward Tray Jackson has missed the past four games in concussion protocol and with a fractured nose.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Juwan Howard responds to Nik Stauskas slamming Michigan basketball