5 college basketball programs for the next 5 years
Which programs are prepared to handle whatever is next and continue to win big? We asked our experts for their picks.
theathletic.com
Paywalled, but I will post the Michigan blurb (other 4 are Nova, Gonzaga, Virginia, and UConn)
Michigan
In just a little more than a year on the job, Juwan Howard has turned Michigan into a basketball school. OK, so the struggles of the pigskin Wolverines may have had something to do with that, but there is no denying what Howard hath wrought in Ann Arbor. He has, in essence, made Michigan cool again. And that will have legs for years to come.
Already the lure of playing for Howard is paying dividends. Michigan has, by the estimation of most, the top-rated recruiting class for next year, anchored by top-10 players Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate. Houstan opted for UM over Duke and Virginia, among others, which says a little something about Howard’s juice. Mix in Frankie Collins, Kobe Bufkin, Isaiah Barnes and Will Tschetter and you’ve got the best recruiting class to arrive at Michigan since … Howard and the Fab Five.
And he did that in the middle of a global pandemic, when contact with recruits has been severely limited. Imagine what he might be able to do when he can walk in someone’s living room.
Granted, we have to see how Howard will handle all of that talent. Year 2 is among the trickiest for head coaches, but I’ve liked Howard’s willingness to recognize his own shortcomings from the start, hiring Phil Martelli as his bench mentor. Presuming it goes well this season, presume things will continue to go very well for Michigan for the foreseeable future.
The only real worry about the Wolverines’ future is keeping Howard in Ann Arbor. It took exactly one year for the NBA rumors to start, and as long as he’s successful, they won’t go away. But rather than let the innuendo linger, Howard silenced it all immediately, issuing a direct statement pledging his loyalty to the maize and blue. Could that change? Of course, but this is no mere job for Howard; this is his alma mater and a place he holds near and dear. He’s not going to jump just to jump, which means Michigan is going to be good for a very long time. — Dana O’Neil
