Background and career
Juwan Antonio Howard ( joo-WAWN) (born February 7, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player, currently an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was previously the head coach at the University of Michigan from 2019 until 2024. Howard played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines as a member of the Fab Five, and was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft by the Washington Bullets. Howard had a 19-year NBA career with eight different teams, winning two NBA championships with the Miami Heat, as well as earned All-Star and All-NBA honors with the Bullets in 1996. 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 as part of the Fab Five recruiting class of 1991 (including future NBA stars Jalen Rose and Chris Webber), and reached the finals of the NCAA tournament in both 1992 and 1993. He was an NCAA All-American in 1994. Howard began his NBA career with the Washington Bullets after being selected in the first round in 1994, and played for the first seven seasons in Washington. His longest stints after were three seasons each with the Houston Rockets (2004–2007) and the Miami Heat for his final three seasons (2010–2013). After retiring, he remained with the Heat organization as an assistant coach for the next six seasons before accepting the head coaching position at Michigan. Howard earned numerous awards for his performance as head coach of the 2020–21 Wolverines, including Big Ten and National Coach of the Year, before being fired in 2024. He is the father of Jett Howard, whom he coached at Michigan.
Howard was born on February 7, 1973. His paternal grandmother, Jannie Mae Howard, was the daughter of sharecroppers from Belzoni, Mississippi. She had four daughters by 19 years old, 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".
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.
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 6-foot-8-inch (2.03 m) center attended the Nike Academic Betterment and Career Development (ABCD) camp, which was held annually in Princeton, New Jersey, during the late 1980s. There he was matched against the 7-foot-4-inch (2.24 m) 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.
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 (MVP) 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.
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 (Howard's aunt) 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.
