Ohio State basketball: No excuse

If you’ve been paying attention at all you’ve heard the excuses. “I didn’t like the timeout that was called” or “Someone touched me.” Michigan head basketball coach Juwan Howard has given us a myriad of excuses, but the bottom line is there is no excuse for him throwing a punch (or slap) at a Wisconsin assistant coach after yesterday’s game. None.

Ok, so Howard didn’t like the timeout called by Wisconsin coach Paul Gard in the final seconds of a game the Badgers had well in hand. He became incensed afterward when Gard tried to explain why it was taken. Gard did indeed grab Howard by the arm, but it was hardly an aggressive move.

Howard then proceeds to get in the face of Gard and grab the front of his jacket. That’s most certainly an aggressive move. Remember, Howard claims he took a swipe at someone because he was grabbed. Various people moved in to separate the two and the situation seemed to be simmering down somewhat.

After a Wisconsin assistant appeared to say something to the Wolverine head coach, Howard lunged at him and threw a punch or slap or whatever you want to call it. That set off a rather disturbing melee between the two teams.

Howard has shown no contrition at all. By making excuses, he has refused to take any blame. Michigan athletic director Ward Manuel put it best in his statement addressing the incident,

"“There is no excuse for any of our staff or student-athletes to get into a physical altercation with others regardless of instigating factors.”"

I could not agree more. There is no place in college athletics for what happened yesterday. Howard is the face of the Michigan basketball program and is ultimately responsible for what goes on in it. He is the one who sets the example for the conduct of his players, coaches, and support personnel to follow. Howard has failed miserably in his role. There is absolutely no excuse for a head coach in any sport to be involved in something like this.

The question now is why is Juwan Howard still employed by the University of Michigan? As of this writing, nothing has been done. Oh, yes, the Big Ten and school have said disciplinary action is coming very soon. I don’t care. I go back to my original question: why is Juwan Howard still employed by the University of Michigan?

Woody Hayes’ punch to Clemson’s Charlie Bauman still lives in infamy. Woody was fired the very next morning as he should have been. The Ohio State basketball program wouldn’t keep Holtmann if he did something like that. There was no excuse for his actions and there is no excuse for Howard’s. The University of Michigan must fire Howard or this will become an even bigger black eye for that school.

There are so many moving parts that figure into what happened yesterday, but in the end, they are all just excuses. There is no excuse for a head coach to behave as Howard did. Have I made my stance on this clear? No excuse.