This is in addition to the rest of the regular season. It was for his involvement in Sunday’s brawl following the team’s loss against Wisconsin. The Big Ten announced Monday. Howard attacked a Wisconsin assistant coach after the post-game handshakes. This triggered a brief brawl between both teams.
The conference released a statement saying that Juwan Howard, Michigan Men’s Basketball Head coach, had committed a clear offense to the Big Ten Conference’s Sportsmanship Policy. “Additionally Greg Gard, University of Wisconsin Men’s basketball Head Coach was in violation of conference’s sportsmanship policies.”
Howard will also be facing a $40,000 penalty. Gard was given a $10,000 fine but will not be suspended. Badgers assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft was not disciplined after he was hit by Howard during the altercation.
Three players were suspended from Michigan’s Terrance Wilkins II, Moussa Dibate, and Wisconsin’s Jahcobi Nath for one game, “for their involvement in the altercation.”
The Big Ten stated that “many of the members of the bench for both teams, including assistant coach, did not reflect the level of sportsmanship expected from the Big Ten Conference or its member institutions.”
Michigan stated in a statement that they have “fully accepted all disciplinary measures handed down by the Big Ten Conference.” While Howard is being suspended, Phil Martelli, an associate head coach, will assume the head coaching duties.
March 9th is the scheduled start date for the Big Ten tournament. Michigan (14-11), currently battling for a spot at the NCAA tournament, is in eighth place with five games remaining.
Howard was slow to line up for post-game handshakes after Michigan’s 77 to63 defeat to Wisconsin. He appeared to be walking by Gard, not shaking his hand. But Gard stopped Howard and they began arguing. Howard pointed his finger at Gard’s face, and both men seemed to grab their shirts.
Players and assistant coaches, which included Krabbenhoft were also involved in the dispute, started to gather around the two men. While some tried to split the two head coaches, Krabbenhoft seemed to be fighting with Howard. Howard struck Krabbenhoft on the face, causing a brief brawl between both teams. Several players were also seen throwing punches.
Howard stated that he was upset with Gard’s late timeout call when Wisconsin led by 15 points with 15 seconds remaining in the game. He also said that the postgame interaction only exacerbated the situation.
He said, “Someone had touched my body, and I thought it was uncalled for.” “So that’s what happened. This is what made it worse.
Gard stated to CBS Sports that he called the timeout in order to give his backups more time so they could avoid a 10-second violation.
He said, “We only had four seconds to get the ball past the half court.” “I didn’t want to leave my bench guys in that situation of scrambling, so he took the timeout. When he got to the handshake line, he didn’t like it.
Howard issued a statement Monday apologizing for the incident.
He said, “I am offering my sincerest apologies to my players, their families, my staff and the Michigan fans across the globe.” “I would also like to apologize to Joe Krabbenhoft, Wisconsin’s Assistant Coach, and his family.”
He said, “I talk a lot about being Michigan man and representing University of Michigan with pride and class, but I didn’t do that nor did I set a good example for my student-athletes.” “I will learn from this mistake and it will never happen again. There are no excuses!
