Juwan Howard
Juwan Antonio Howard is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association. Howard was a collegiate All-American, had a 19-year NBA career with eight different teams, and served as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team.
Howard was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a high school All-American center and an honors student at Chicago Vocational Career Academy. He gained national prominence after signing with the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team as part of its Fab Five recruiting class of 1991, and reached the finals of the NCAA tournament in both 1992 and 1993. Although many of the Fab Five's accomplishments of the 1990s were vacated due to NCAA rules violations, Howard was not personally implicated in the scandal and his individual accomplishments, including as a 1993–94 NCAA All-American, continue to be recognized.
He began his NBA career as the fifth overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, selected by the Washington Bullets, and played in Washington for the first seven seasons of a 19-season journeyman career. His longest stints after Washington were three seasons each with the Houston Rockets and the Miami Heat. Howard was a one-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA power forward. He made three NBA Finals appearances and won two NBA titles, all with the Heatles-era Miami Heat, while serving as a veteran role player in his final three NBA seasons.
After retiring as a player in 2013, he remained with the Heat organization as an assistant coach for the next six seasons, before accepting the head coaching position at his alma mater, Michigan, in 2019. Howard earned numerous awards for his performance as a coach in the 2020–21 season, including AP National Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year. Howard also became the first coach to earn a No.1 seed as both a player and coach, after the Wolverines secured a No. 1 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Howard coached his son, Jett Howard, at Michigan during the 2022-23 season.
Howard was fired by Michigan in 2024, and later joined the assistant coaching staff of the Brooklyn Nets.
Early life
Howard's grandmother, Jannie Mae Howard, was the daughter of sharecroppers from Belzoni, Mississippi. She had four daughters by her 19th birthday, including Howard's mother Helena. Helena was an employee at a Chicago restaurant when she became pregnant with Juwan. Howard's father, Leroy Watson, had just returned from the Army to a phone company job in Chicago. The two married quickly once they realized Helena was pregnant. For Howard's first week of life, his high school junior mother kept him in a drawer at Jannie Mae's house. Helena, who was 17 years old, did not want to be restricted or burdened raising her child, so Jannie Mae adopted him. His biological father, Leroy Watson Jr., wanted to name him Leroy Watson, III, but his grandmother rejected the suggestion, insisting on Juwan Antonio Howard. Although his mother visited on occasion as he was growing up, his grandmother raised him, along with two cousins. Howard has no siblings and is not close to his biological parents; his grandmother was the primary influence in his life. He moved with her to several low-income Chicago South Side projects; she kept him out of trouble and away from gangs as he was growing up. One of their residences was a three-bedroom apartment on 69th Street on the South Side of Chicago. As he blossomed under his grandmother's influence and discipline, he became her "pride and joy".High school
Howard went to Chicago Vocational Career Academy, where he went on to play three seasons of varsity basketball. Vocational had an unheated gym and no locker rooms, which required that the team dress for games in a history classroom. Nonetheless, Howard went on to be named a 1991 All-American basketball player by Parade magazine and won McDonald's All American honors. He was also chosen for the National Honor Society and served as Vocational's homecoming king. During recruiting visits by college coaches such as Illinois' Lou Henson, DePaul's Joey Meyer and Michigan's Steve Fisher, Jannie Mae Howard did most of the questioning.Sophomore year
At the start of his sophomore year in 1988, Howard was 15 years old and already expected to be a coveted blue chip recruit in 1991. He was regarded as one of the best sophomore basketball players in the Chicago metropolitan area. He scored 26 points in a Chicago Public High School League quarterfinal loss against a Deon Thomas-led Simeon Career Academy team. Vocational ended the year with a 23–7 record. Howard was a second-team selection and the only sophomore named to the league coaches' 20-man 1988–89 All-Public League team.The summer after his sophomore year, the center attended the Nike Academic Betterment and Career Development camp, which was held annually in Princeton, New Jersey, during the late 1980s. There he was matched against the Shawn Bradley. At this camp, even though the much-taller Bradley blocked his shots several times, Howard established himself as one of the best junior-year big men in the country. He was involved in controversy for receiving a second pair of sneakers at the camp because he was suspected of stealing them. Howard denied theft, but he was sent home on the last day of the six-day camp.
Howard also participated in the Bill Cronauer camp in Rensselaer, Indiana, which more than 100 college coaches attended. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, he was ranked as one of the top 10 underclassmen in the country during the camp. Howard attended other camps that summer; his goal was to overcome Thomas, who was the reigning Chicago Tribune basketball player of the year, as the best big man in the state. By the time he ended his college career in 1994, Howard was drafted a full round ahead of Thomas.
Junior year
As Howard entered his junior year, some sources listed him as the best junior basketball player in Illinois, while others ranked Tom Kleinschmidt ahead of him. Taylor Bell of the Chicago Sun-Times noted that Howard was leaning toward playing either for DePaul or for Illinois. Howard was interested in Illinois because Thomas, whom Howard admired, had become a member of the 1989–90 Fighting Illini team. By the end of his junior year, league coaches named him to the first-team All-Chicago Public School League. He was selected to the Chicago Sun-Times All-Area team as well as the Class-AA All-State team and established himself as the top Chicago-area junior ahead of Kleinschmidt. Howard had a sub-par performance against King High School in the Chicago Public School League semifinals, but the Chicago Tribune named him to its All-State second team. Vocational finished the year 24–7.Howard was also an honors student. After his junior year, he was one of 10 Illinois players invited back to the Nike All-American Camp at Princeton. Others invited included Kleinschmidt, Donnie Boyce, William Gates, Billy Taylor, Rashard Griffith and Howard Nathan. Although Howard was considered one of the top prospects in the city of Chicago at that time, the player perceived as the best Chicago-area prospect was Glenn Robinson of Gary, Indiana. By this time, Howard had eliminated DePaul from consideration since Deryl Cunningham, another Chicago-area all-star who might have otherwise convinced Howard to stay in Chicago, had transferred to Kansas State. He was considering Michigan, Michigan State, Kentucky, Arizona, Dayton, Marquette and Illinois. Howard was evaluated as the best senior basketball player at the camp; the group of players in attendance included Chris Webber, Cherokee Parks, Robinson and Alan Henderson.
After being named Most Valuable Player at the prestigious Boston Shootout and acknowledged as the leading participant at the Nike camp, Howard was mentioned as the best prospect in the country. By this time, he had dropped Michigan State and Illinois from his list of possible college destinations and had begun considering UNLV as well. Following his time at the Nike camp, his household was besieged by recruiters. Howard issued the following statement: "Contact my coach. I do not want my grandmother and aunt upset about calls at all times of the day and night. I'm not the only person who lives in this house. I think my wishes should be respected. If not, when it comes time to make my decision, I'll take those things into account." Although Howard was the best performer at the camp, talent scout Bob Gibbons felt Webber and Robinson were equally talented prospects. Despite Howard's most recently listed college preferences and the fact that the team was under investigation for recruiting violations, Illinois continued pursuing Howard as its number one recruit. By the end of July 1990, Howard was projected to sign with Michigan.
Senior year
During Michigan's in-home visit, Howard's grandmother treated Michigan head coach Fisher, his assistants Mike Boyd and Brian Dutcher, Vocational coach Cook, Vocational assistant coach Donnie Kirskey, Lois Howard and Howard to a soul food dinner. Dutcher had the responsibility to contact Howard several times a week. Howard grew close to assistant coach Kirskey, often staying at his house and using his car once he got a driver's license. During the summer 1990 30-day visitation period, Dutcher watched Howard practice 28 consecutive days. Dutcher developed an understanding of the dynamics of Howard's relationship with his grandmother. While other coaches, such as Lute Olson, almost ignored her during the recruiting, Dutcher understood that she was the key influence on his life, and understood that Kirskey also had sway with Howard. He encouraged Fisher to hire Kirskey for a summer basketball camp, which became the young athlete's introduction to Ann Arbor, Michigan.Howard was the president of Vocational's Senior Boys' Council. In the final days before his senior season decision regarding his college basketball team, Howard wavered between Arizona State and Michigan. He also made an official visit to Dayton. Despite the ongoing recruiting scandal, he made an unofficial visit to Illinois, which had recruited four of the five previous Chicago Public School League Illinois Players of the Year. At the time of his decision, Howard was considered one of the top five seniors in the country, but unlike many top basketball recruits, he decided not to hold a press conference to announce his choice. Although the official signing period was set for November 14–21, 1990, he selected Michigan on November 2. Howard's grandmother died of a heart attack a few hours after he announced that he would attend Michigan, and he moved in with his high school coach, Richard Cook.
Howard averaged 26.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists during his senior season, and finished in the top 10 percent of his academic class. He took Vocational to the Public League semifinals where they lost to Westinghouse College Prep, finishing with a 25–5 record, despite his 25 points and 12 rebounds. He befriended Jimmy King when they visited Michigan on the same weekend; according to the Chicago Tribune Fisher Howard influenced King's decision to also enroll there. According to Clyde Travis of the Chicago Sun-Times, Howard's verbal commitment made up for Fisher's failure to recruit Eric Montross the prior year, even though Montross's father and grandfather had played for Michigan. With Jalen Rose, Webber, Howard and King—along with Ray Jackson, a less-heralded prospect—the Michigan recruiting class was considered to be the best in the nation. Some regarded the class as among the greatest recruiting classes of all time.
As a senior, Howard edged Griffith and Kiwane Garris for the most votes to the Sun-Times' annual All-Chicago Public School League boys' basketball team. He was also selected to the All-Area team and was a repeat Class-AA All-State selection. Howard, Kleinschmidt and Robinson were all selected to the 10-member first team of Parade magazine's 40-member high school All-America boys' basketball team. They were also chosen to play in the McDonald's All-America game. West MVP Webber posted 28 points and 12 rebounds in the game; with Howard adding 16 points. The West won 108–106. Howard also earned the Gatorade Circle of Champions' Illinois Player of the Year Award. Howard's ACT test score was high enough to make him eligible under Proposition 48 academic requirements to play as a freshman. Only eight of the top 25 Chicago Public School League players achieved a qualifying score on the test.