Michigan basketball's Juwan Howard officially back on bench as assistant for now
Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard will officially begin his transition back to the bench when his Wolverines take on Oregon on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN) in Eugene, Oregon.
Howard, who underwent heart surgery on Sept. 15, traveled with the team to New York for its game against St. John's, and the Bahamas for three games last week in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. In the Bahamas, he sat on the bench alongside the team in the tournament — he was even ejected from the final contest, a 73-57 loss to Texas Tech — but has not officially served as a coach in a game this season.
"Juwan Howard will transition back to an assistant coach," program spokesman Tom Wywrot said in a statement released Thursday evening. "Phil Martelli remains interim head coach."
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With the move comes some shuffling for the Wolverines staff: Most notably, Colin Anschuetz will no longer serve as U-M's fifth active assistant coach, returning instead to off-court duties. That leaves Martelli as the interim boss, along with assistants Saddi Washington and Howard Eisley, director of player personnel Jay Smith and video analyst Jaaron Simmons.
Howard, 50, is 79-46 overall in his tenure in Ann Arbor. Michigan (4-3) is coming off of just its second missed NCAA Tournament in the past 15 seasons. Michigan began this season 3-0, but has since lost three of four games.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball's Juwan Howard back on bench as assistant for now
