The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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24 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2019 BY CHRIS BALAS N ew Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard met the media for his first sit- down availability July 22 and discussed a range of topics, including personnel and recruiting. Here's what he had to say, Q&A style: What's it like being on the other side of recruiting? "It's different. I take my hat off to these coaches. Wow. I don't think I was that hard [as a recruit]. It was an easy process for me. I had my high school coach … then Donnie Kirksey helped out as an assistant. "If you had a home visit you had to win my grandmother over. That was it. Nowadays you have the AAU coach, high school coaches, parents, some kids have a spokesperson for them. It's a lot. "I haven't been the type who is on the phone talking for a long time. In high school … you had your home phone, would call people up, and talk on the phone for 30 minutes, 40 min- utes. … That was the last time I re- ally spent a lot of time on the phone. Nowadays I'm on the phone, look up and it's 30 minutes talking and selling our program and our vision and our culture." What's your philosophy on when to offer a recruit? "I just know when I recruit a kid, I'm recruiting his parents too. I see the parents and I enjoy seeing how they develop and raise their kid, what their background is like, their philosophy. It's a feel thing. "If that kid is raised right, if I've watched him play, if the parents are ev- erything and check the boxes of what I look for and how I connect with the parent, if the players check the boxes on talent and how I perceive them en- tering school as a student-athlete, that kid deserves an offer. That's a kid I want to coach. "The goal is to get the kids we feel we would like to coach here and fit our program and our identity." What are your plans for senior center Jon Teske? "In my opinion, he had a really good season last year. He looked confident out on the floor, he was productive. This year, this summer, he's been working extremely hard getting him- self in shape. "We've been in the gym doing a lot of player development. The team, the staff … we're going to lean on him a lot. I'm looking forward to work- ing with him and watching him grow through the process." What are your early impressions of senior point guard Zavier Simpson? "Zavier has been like another coach out there for us. He's like an extension of the coaching staff with his leader- ship. His work ethic is off the chart. "I was told he was doing three-a- days, because as coaches we cannot be in the gym watching him work out. TALKING RECRUITING AND MORE Michigan's New Head Basketball Coach Juwan Howard Addresses A Number Of Topics Howard pointed to his teary press conference as a way he showed "how much passion I have for this school," and admitted he still gets "killed" for crying on his first day as the U-M head coach. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN