In a statement released on Friday night, Warde Manuel, the athletic director of Michigan, said that Howard will not be disciplined for an alleged altercation he had earlier this month. Howard is now back to his full potential as the team’s head coach as a result.
According to MassLive.com, Manuel stated, “An incident involving several individuals during a team practice last week led to the return of our usual coaching structure.” An extensive internal assessment revealed nothing that would have called for disciplinary action against any of the parties involved. We shall therefore proceed, concentrating on our squad and the next season.
Following a heart surgery in September, Howard had not coached for Michigan during the entire season. After leading the squad in the first ten games of the season as associate head coach Phil Martelli, Howard officially took over on Saturday against Eastern Michigan, when the Wolverines prevailed 83-66.
The reported altercation involving Howard and longtime team strength coach Jon Sanderson has prompted Michigan to launch an investigation. The two were reported to have gotten into an altercation on December 7th, purportedly over Howard’s son Jace, a junior guard on the team who hasn’t played a single game this year because of a knee injury. The complete information is available here.
The university had imposed a zero-tolerance policy on Howard following his handshake line confrontation in 2022, which raised extra worries about the alleged confrontation. However, Howard was exonerated by Michigan’s internal probe, and he has already formally begun his fifth season as head coach.
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