Juwan Howard is currently under investigation after an incident with longtime Michigan strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson. There are a lot of rumors surrounding the ongoing situation in Ann Arbor.
Many, if not most of them, do not appear to be true at this time. The altercation was not physical in nature. It is not expected to lead to Howard’s ouster at this point.
Here is what Brendan Quinn of The Athletic reported on late Sunday night:
According to a university official with direct knowledge of the matter, Howard’s status as Michigan head men’s basketball coach is unchanged.
A confrontation between Howard and longtime U-M strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson in a team practice late last week is being explored and going through a university review process. It is university procedure for such a review to be conducted outside of the athletic department.
Multiple sources say claims of punches being thrown in the aforementioned altercation are innacurate.
Sanderson did not travel to Iowa with the team for Michigan’s game at Iowa today. He did not return a call for comment. According to a university source, Sanderson currently remains part of the program.
— Brendan Quinn of The Athletic
The Wolverines defeated the Hawkeyes on Sunday night. Sanderson was not with the team. He did not travel on his own accord. It was his decision not to make the trip. The university, nor Howard asked him to do so.
Social media and message boards ran wild with allegations surrounding the incident. They said that Howard was going to be fired after throwing a punch. That is not true. Those rumors are said to be “unequivocally false” by sources close to Josh Henschke of the Maize & Blue Review.
Sanderson and Howard got into a heated verbal spat on Thursday, but neither college basketball coach laid a finger on the other. Howard is not set to step down or be fired.
Despite Sanderson’s decision, and the awkwardness surrounding the episode between coaches, it was business as usual around the Michigan program on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They rolled into Iowa City and left at 6-5 with a 10-point win.
Adding further confusion to the situation, Juwan Howard is not currently acting as the head coach. He continues to recover from a heart procedure and is serving in a prominent bench assistant role.
It is assumed that Howard and Sanderson will meet with athletic director Warde Manuel this week. Disciplinary measures for both parties could be issued after the meetings. Neither the head coach nor strength and conditioning coach are expected to leave or be fired.
To make the entire thing even weirder, the floodgates broke on the rumors during a win. They went from a spark to a full-blown fire as the Wolverines handled business against the Hawkeyes. Very weird!