Michigan coach Juwan Howard suspended for rest of regular season after hitting Wisconsin assistant, sparking brawl
Michigan men's basketball coach Juwan Howard has been suspended for five games, which accounts for the remainder of the regular season, for his role in Sunday's brawl at the conclusion of the team's loss to Wisconsin, the Big Ten announced Monday. Howard struck a Wisconsin assistant coach during the postgame handshakes, sparking a short brawl between the two teams.
"It has been determined that there was a clear violation of the Big Ten Conference's Sportsmanship Policy by Michigan Men's Basketball Head Coach Juwan Howard," the conference said in a statement. "Additionally, the University of Wisconsin Men's Basketball Head Coach Greg Gard was in violation of the conference's sportsmanship policy."
In addition to the suspension, Howard is also facing a $40,000 fine. Gard was fined $10,000 but will not face any suspension. No disciplinary action was announced for Badgers assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft, who was struck by Howard during the altercation.
Three players, Michigan's Terrance Williams II and Moussa Diabate and Wisconsin's Jahcobi Neath, were suspended for one game "for their roles in the altercation."
"Many members of the bench area for both teams, including assistant coaches, did not represent the level of sportsmanship that is expected from the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions," the Big Ten said.
Michigan said in a statement that it has "fully accepted all disciplinary actions handed down from the Big Ten Conference." Associate head coach Phil Martelli will take over head coaching duties while Howard serves his suspension.
The Big Ten tournament is scheduled to begin March 9. With five games left to play, Michigan (14-11) sits in eighth place in the conference and is currently fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Following Michigan's 77-63 loss to Wisconsin on Sunday, Howard was slow to get in line for the postgame handshakes. It appeared he was going to walk by Gard without shaking his hand, but Gard stopped Howard and the two began arguing. Both men appeared to grab each other's shirts and Howard pointed his finger near Gard's face.
As the argument escalated, players and assistant coaches, including Krabbenhoft, began crowding around the two men. Some were trying to separate the two head coaches, but Krabbenhoft appeared to be arguing with Howard as well. Howard then struck Krabbenhoft in face, leading to a short brawl between the two teams in which several players were also seen throwing punches.
In a postgame press conference, Howard confirmed that he was angry with a late timeout Gard called when Wisconsin was leading by 15 points with 15 seconds left in the game, and said the postgame interaction exacerbated the situation.
"Someone had touched me, and I think it was very uncalled for, for them to touch me, as we were verbalizing and communicating with one another," he said. "So, that's what ended up happening. That's what escalated it."
Gard told CBS Sports he called the timeout to afford his backups more time to avoid a 10-second violation.
"We only had 4 seconds to get the ball past half court," he said. "I didn't want to put my bench guys in that position of scrambling, so I took the timeout. He did not like that when he came through the handshake line."
On Monday, Howard apologized for the incident in a statement.
"I am offering my sincerest apology to my players and their families, my staff, my family and the Michigan fans around the world," he said. "I would like to personally apologize to Wisconsin's Assistant Coach Joe Krabbenhoft and his family, too."
"I speak a lot about being a Michigan man and representing the University of Michigan with class and pride, I did not do that, nor did I set the right example in the right way for my student-athletes," he added. "I will learn from my mistake and this mistake will never happen again. No excuses!"
