Michigan basketball's Jace Howard: Juwan Howard, strength coach altercation 'a misunderstanding'

The altercation that happened last week behind closed doors between Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard and head strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson was a misunderstanding.

Those were the words of senior forward Jace Howard, who spoke briefly with the Free Press before the Wolverines' matchup on Saturday afternoon against fellow Washtenaw County squad Eastern Michigan.

"I can’t speak too much on it obviously," Howard began, "but it was obviously a misunderstanding and from what the reports were, it was almost completely false."

In the hours after Michigan beat Iowa on Dec. 10 in Iowa City, Iowa, rumors began to circulate on social media that Juwan Howard had been in a physical altercation and perhaps his job was on the line. As the Free Press has since confirmed, the incident was not physical in nature; Sanderson, however, did file an HR claim with the university over the situation and stepped away from the team.

HOWARD RETURNS': Michigan basketball's Juwan Howard cleared as head coach, AD announces

He was not with the team in Iowa and while assistant coach Phil Martelli would not confirm if he was with the team in practice this week, he was not on the sideline when Michigan players warmed up for Saturday's contest. Ordinarily he helps players loosen up before games.

"Obviously the university did their investigation, found their was no wrong-doing," Jace Howard, who remains out with a knee injury, said. "We’re just happy to be back on the court."

That was announced late Friday night by athletic director Warde Manuel, who stated Howard was cleared to return as head coach, both from the heart surgery that kept him out since Sept. 15, as well as from any pending review over any off the court matters.

It was particularly notable given the "zero tolerance" policy in Howard's contract since he struck Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the face during a postgame skirmish in Madison in February 2022. He was suspended by the Big Ten for the final five games of the 2022-23 regular season and fined $40,000.

"Based on a thorough internal review, nothing was found to warrant disciplinary action for anyone involved," Manuel said in the Friday night statement. "As such, we will move forward with a focus on our team and our season.”

Though why a disagreement began is still not clear, one report stated it came over comments Jace Howard made toward a trainer over his injury.

WINDSOR: Families have verbal fights all the time. Here's what makes Juwan Howard situation different.

Although Howard said he couldn't get too much into the details, he did confirm his injury has lingered longer than initially hoped and was not properly identified when it first occurred.

That's what prompted him to recently fly to Los Angeles — that's where he met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Dodgers team doctor who performed surgeries on Kobe Bryant's knee, Tom Brady's Achilles and Tarik Skubal's elbow, among many others — to hear from an outside source.

"I was getting a second opinion because originally I was told it was a stress fracture but actually it was a tendon tear, like a small tendon tear," Howard said. "So it was misdiagnosed and I just wanted to get some more clarity with it, I was able to get some good news, I’m able to start progressing and hopefully I’ll be able to be back in two or three weeks — hopefully two."

[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Hail Yes!" your go-to Michigan Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

Howard's initial timeline to return was projected as four to six weeks when his injury was announced Nov. 3; Friday marked six weeks exactly.

Howard just started to do some light running, is working on an underwater treadmill and what he called an "alter-G treadmill," essentially an anti-gravity machine set to his specific parameters.

But most importantly to the 6-foot-8 wing, he has finally touched a basketball again.

"I’m starting to get set shots in, jumping a little bit," Howard said. "That's the first in a couple months, so I’m happy about that."

Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's Jace Howard: Juwan Howard altercation a 'misunderstanding'