Today around noon, Michigan will welcome back Fab 5 member Juwan Howard as its basketball coach. It's an historic and exciting day for Juwan, his family, and for Michigan fans. I hope he has a long career in Ann Arbor with many championships.
News has been breaking on possible assistant coaching candidates. Since it's a bit confusing, we will use the below to help.
Reports are that Michigan and Juwan have hired Mike Miller as an assistant coach.
The above picture is of Mike Miller who played with Juwan and LeBron and now is an assistant coach on Penny Hardway's Memphis program. This is who I assumed was the guy they were talking about. I was wrong! It's not him.
It's actually this guy, one of the top G-League coaches who also was the head coach at Texas State and Eastern Illinois. One of his current players is Zak Irvin.
Now reports are that Michigan has offered an assistant coaching role to Phil Martelli who has been an assistant or head coach of St. Joseph since 1985. Yes, 1985. He was a head coach from 1995 - 2019. He has not made a decision on the offer yet. Phil looks like Steve Ballmer's dad:
Unfortunately, DeAndre Haynes from Coach B's staff has not been retained.
So that is it. We don't know if Phil will take the job. He has a ton of experience but is 64 and might rather have a head coaching job. Either way, Juwan is bringing in a ton of college experience to level set any of his non-college coaching experience. On a side note, I wonder if Phil is considering purchasing a gas station and calling it Phil Mart?
Today is a good day for Michigan Basketball!
2 comments:
If coach Phil and coach Miller get on the staff this will be a great win for Michigan basketball. That is ton of experience, college and professional. Coach Miller was the one who revived Trey Burke's career! Coach Miller is known as a great developer of talent.
Bob I'm also hearing about coach Howard Eisley from the Knicks joining the Michigan staff. Bob you hearing anything on that? Eisley works with the back court on the Knicks.
Go blue!
I had been following coach Phil Martelli for years. He is a super great guy and an outstanding coach. It's not easy to bring in the top athletes to a school like St. Joseph's, I've been through there. There's nothing wrong with the school, it's just not known as a basketball "powerhouse." It kind of reminds me of University of Detroit a little.
When Coach Martelli was fired and the classless way he was let go by St. Joe's it caused a big uproar with the media and the fans. He didn't deserve that, and he is very highly respected by everyone within the city. The school has a right to let their coaches go don't get me wrong but there is a right way to do anything. He wants to coach again and if he accepts the Michigan assistant position it would be a great pick up for Michigan. He has an excellent basketball mind and understands the nuances of the game as well as being a head coach. He certainly can be that nurturing "father figure" coach that Juwan Howard needs. Even if he stayed for only a year, Michigan and Juwan would be far better off with having had him on their staff. IMHO!!!
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