Juwan Howard is gone. What is next for Michigan basketball's 2024-25 roster?

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect Thursday afternoon's firing of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard.

MINNEAPOLIS — Will Tschetter politely pushed back on the notion that he in any way felt relieved Michigan basketball's dismal season had come to an end.

Not that he needed to do much convincing, the evidence of passion was literally still on his face in the aftermath of the Wolverines' 66-57 loss to Penn State on Wednesday in the Big Ten tournament.

Pink streaks ran down the center of each cheek, they outlined the path some recent tears had taken moments earlier before falling from his face; and though his voice quivered at times, Tschetter was adamant about the content of his message.

"I wouldn't say relieved," he repeated, elbows on his knees in front of his Target Center locker. "I mean, I can say everybody who played in this locker room, you know, was trying to come out and make a run. By no means were we coming into this game like 'Oh man, the season's done' we were trying to string together a few games. End the season on the best note possible."

As for the future, however, he wasn't as brash on what it may hold.

The Minnesota native went just 1-for-4 with two points and five rebounds as he fouled out in 22 minutes in the season finale. It's the second consecutive season that's seemingly ended with premature pain, and not the type of pain one can eventually live with years later when looking back at it in hindsight.

Michigan (8-24, 3-17 Big Ten) officially lost more games this season than any in the previous 106 before it and missed the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time since everybody on the roster was in elementary school.

READ MORE: Michigan basketball head coach candidates: 5 names to know to replace Juwan Howard

"No," he said when asked if he’d made a decision for next season. “I haven’t thought about that.”

It’s more common to refrain these days than ever before in college athletics with players weighing their options year over year. Michigan coach Juwan Howard spoke earlier this season of the troubles facing collegiate coaches, having to re-recruit their own roster after each and every season.

Of course, the first decision to be made came Thursday, when athletic director Warde Manuel fired Howard with two years remaining on his deal — now a complete and total program overhaul is on the horizon.

In this era, an inability to keep the stars on campus burned U-M last offseason not just when Jett Howard and Kobe Bufkin left early for the NBA, but Hunter Dickinson opted to transfer with eligibility still remaining. 

It seems that’s the price to pay for not winning and at this point, the Wolverines are in debt after a two-year stretch of going 26-40, which may cost it a chance at keeping some of its most talented players for next year.

Let’s start with the two who appeared from the outside the most committed to returning if Howard would have; beginning with the person who doesn’t share a last name.

Tarris Reed Jr. said, “That’s the goal” when asked if he wants to return to Ann Arbor next season, adding he loves Howard and the program, which are the main reasons he joined the Wolverines in the first place.

“Coach Howard he’s been through a lot,” Reed said. “He could have lost his life earlier this year, like really could have died. But he loves the game and loves coaching and he came back for us. That shows the amount of sacrifice and love — he’s willing to sacrifice his life to come back and coach us.

“I got all the respect for Coach Howard I know it’s tough, I know everybody wants him fired, but you’ve got to look at the man and see what he’s done. … I trust in him.”

Meanwhile, the final big man in the rotation, Jace Howard, said whether his father returns or not, he hopes to come back for a fifth year next season if the program will allow him do so.

He grew up loving the maize and blue, to put on the uniform remains a dream come true, and as the only person in the program who’s both been to multiple second weekends of the NCAA tournament and is a two-time captain, his voice resonates in the locker room.

[ MUST LISTEN: Reaction show and what comes next for Michigan basketball. "Hail Yes!" your go-to Michigan athletics podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

“Whatever happens, happens, there’s no guarantees. I could have played my last game but obviously I want to play more for here,” Jace Howard said. “That’s something I really can’t get into, but my plan right now is to get back this summer and restart this thing, get this thing right.”

With Olivier Nkamhoua, Tray Jackson and Jaelin Llewellyn all out of eligibility, it leaves Dug McDaniel, Nimari Burnett and Terrance Williams II as the other three undecided rotational pieces.

It seemed in the preseason McDaniel would be handed the keys to the offense. In a way, he was, as he led the team with 16.4 points and 4.7 assists per game, but his season was far from unblemished. Instead, midway through the season was suspended academically and sidelined for six road games in Big Ten play, which put an already shorthanded roster in a near-impossible spot.

McDaniel implied he’d learned from his academic shortcomings, but did not offer any specifics as to why he was in that situation other than saying, “I didn’t hold up my end.” Had McDaniel wanted, he could have all but committed to return next season as an upperclassmen and began to rewrite the story on his time in Ann Arbor.

ANALYSIS: Michigan basketball had no choice but to let Juwan Howard go. Now comes the harder part.

He didn’t exactly jump at the chance to do so.

“I’ll worry about that later,” he said.

Burnett, who has two years of eligibility remaining, has said for weeks he’s undecided about if he will continue playing college ball and even at that, if it would be at Michigan. It’s why he went through senior day last weekend against Nebraska, just in case he doesn’t come back.

“Yeah, I’ll have to make a decision,” he said at the time.

On Wednesday, he was seated next to Williams at the final press conference of the year.

The captain and four-year player at Michigan was in tears when he emerged from the locker room and walked through the bowels of the multipurpose arena to the postgame media room.

Williams wasn’t questioned about his future directly postgame, but did offer this when asked about his emotional sideline embrace with Tschetter and Reed as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“I spent I think three years with Will, two years with T-Reed,” he said. “They just thanked me for everything I’ve done for them, helping them become better each day. That really hit home to me that I had that effect on people, because I didn’t really know I had that effect on people until they told me that.

“But yeah a lot of emotions for me, just taking it all in after four years of this maize and blue.”

The only other scholarship players on the roster are Youssef Khayat, a redshirt freshman who in his second season on campus didn't play more than 12 minutes or score more than four points in any game, and George Washington III, a combo guard who showed occasional flash, but clearly wasn't ready for this level.

Washington played in 22 games and scored a career-high 10 points in mop-up duty during a blowout loss at Purdue, however, he scored just 16 points combined in the other 21 games as he shot 18.5% from the floor (5 for 27) and 22.2% from long range (4 of 8).

It's a new day and age in college basketball with more player movement than ever. That creates opportunities for quick improvements, but for the Wolverines, it hasn't always proven to bear fruit.

The program, now entering a new era, will have to figure out how to best mix and match players to avoid a similar fate next season.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Juwan Howard is gone. What is next for Michigan basketball's roster?