'Howard-to-Howard' Assist and 3-Pointer a 'Blessing' for their Father and Coach
Juwan Howard discusses what a special moment he had along with his wife, Jenine, as Jett Howard fed brother Jace Howard for a 3-pointer in Wolverines' opening game win
Jett Howard led Michigan with 5 assists and was second with 21 points in his collegiate debut.
Photo Courtesy of University of Michigan Photography
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – There will be bigger moments this season for Michigan basketball brothers Jace and Jett Howard, but they’ll always treasure what happened midway through the first half of Monday’s season-opening 75-56 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.
They were on a fastbreak with teammate Kobe Bufkin, and Jett saw his older brother out of the corner of his eye, fed him, and watched Jace nail a 3-pointer.
“It’s a dream come true because that’s something that never happens every day,” said their father and coach, Juwan Howard. “It’s one of those moments when you have a special time in your life when you get an opportunity to coach at your alma mater…and how you loved your alma mater and you talked about the only college they would go to will be Michigan.
“Teaching them the fight song and when Michigan and Ohio State play in that football rivalry game, dressing up all my kids and my wife and my dog in the Michigan maize and blue. And now to see it all come to fruition and seeing the opportunity how it’s been presented with the growth of both boys.
“Watching them, like you touched on, in the backyard and watching them in high school practice, then AAU. Now, here in Ann Arbor in front of our great crowd, cheering them on. It is really a blessing, and their mom, I kind of peeked my eye out at her [laughter]. I hear her, and the excitement that she has, and the smiles she’s having each and every possession. It’s a blessing.”
Jett, whose 21 points were one off Hunter Dickinson’s game-high 22, recalled that family moment play:
“When it came to my brother,” said Jett, “I saw him in transition. I saw Kobe on my left and I was like, ‘I’m probably going to penetrate to the middle to see who was going to bite.’ Jace’s man bit, and I threw it to Jace. His feet weren’t really set. So, I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to go in.’ But when it went in, we were super happy.
“We talked about it at half-time, too. It was a great feeling just to see him happy and grateful about it: ‘Yo, bro, that’s crazy!’ That was like a Howard-to-Howard play, and it meant a lot to us. We’ll probably look at it back in a few days, and I’m probably going to hear about it from my mom when I get home, too. So, yeah, it was awesome.”
I thought back to the day Juwan was named the head coach here. Wife Jenine and his high school-age sons sat together in the front row as Dad was brought to tears with the emotion of returning to the site of his Fab Five glories.
Jett hit 5-of-10 treys, and led the team with five assists in his college debut. He also grabbed two rebounds, made a steal and blocked a shot.
Dickinson said: “He’s a guy who has more of an unorthodox game and is somebody who can just fill it up offensively. He’s a natural scorer and somebody that knows how to put the ball in the basket. That’s probably his biggest strength, getting a bucket when you really need it.”
The 7-foot-1 center explained “unorthodox:”
“He doesn’t have a certain move. People call it a bag, and he’s not a robotic player. He just naturally goes with the flow and is able to do many different things out there. We make it a priority to get him the ball when he’s that hot.”
It’s also evident that he’s a coach’s son.
“He’s been around the game for a long time,” said Juwan. “He also has a high IQ. He’s a willing passer. He has great size (6-foot-8, 215 pounds). He sees the floor. I’ve seen that from day one, when he first started playing basketball. The ball’s going to be in his hands, and at times he’s going to make some good plays. Sometimes, just like a freshman, he’s going to make mistakes.
“He’ll learn and grow. I know he will because he loves the game. I want this kid to enjoy his college life, man. I don’t want him to emphasize his dad is so hard on him because I’m not. But I’m also the coach, and you see that in the first half when there were two or three defensive mistakes and I had to sit him down, let him calm down and figure out [corrections]. It was great to see that he responded and came back in and played well. He could’ve been opposite and been sulking, but that’s not how he’s wired.”
Jett said, “My night started out --- I didn’t hit every shot I wanted to hit. I let up a few threes on defense. So, I kind of got down a little bit, but I just stayed the course. I didn’t get too high or get too low.”
Jace, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound sophomore guard who personifies hustle and grit, didn’t start with his brother. Four fouls got him to bench quickly when got into the game, and he finished with 4 points and 2 rebounds. But he’s going to be a factor because he’s one of those players who contributes to victories. He does the little things, does the dirty work, and can be a sparkplug.
Juwan thought back to Jace and Jett as little guys, hooping it up in the backyard, and couldn’t stop smiling about them making it this far together. Now he gets to be their coach, but never stops being their dad.
That smile on his face, that of a proud father, was pretty sweet to see.
Opening game is like opening up presents, Bob!
Dissecting the game can come later. For now it’s just fun to see what lies ahead for this Michigan basketball team. Next up, the women! Go KBA and her team!