Who could Iowa's Juwan Howard be?
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Yes, Juwan wanted the Michigan job and made it known, took himself out of the running for the Timberwolves head coaching gig. Martelli was not brought in to coach primarily but to help Juwan navigate the college coaching scene. Juwan is an excellent coach in his own right, bringing a lot of NBA concepts with him. He prepared himself to become a coach and studied the game. He has a great rapport with the players. He's hands on, and can still get out there and show the kids what he wants. Dickinson was nowhere near the player he is now when he got to Ann Arbor last summer. Juwan fixed his footwork and mental approach.
When Juwan was hired, I wondered if he could coach, if he'd recruit, if he could adapt to the college game, because a lot of pros have tried this with mixed results - Chris Mullin, Pat Ewing, Jerry Stackhouse, Penny Hardaway. Juwan has proved to be the real deal.
Has he ever expressed interest in coaching? Maybe I’m misremembering stuff from when Iowa hired Fran a decade ago, but I never got a vibe that he was all that interested in coaching. He did do a stint in the Bulls front office after his career, but to my knowledge he’s never coached.
I’d welcome him, I just think it’s more about his interest than it is him “getting a look”.
This is likely true. He could have been an Iowa version of Howard around the time Lick was hired. Not as much now. When Lick was hired, BJ was a few years post playing career with a little NBA front-office experience under his belt.
A 2019 interview with BJ:
“...I don’t know how I could top that. But you know what, if the University did call back and ask me, that’s one place I know I don’t have the ability to say, ‘no.’
So I try to keep my distance cause I don’t want to have to say, ‘yes.’”
Frazier: “There you have it: B.J. Armstrong does not say ‘no’ to Iowa.”
Armstrong: “If they ask me to do anything for the University - anything - I would have to do it.”
BirdistheWord
HR Heisman
Good point, the synergy of him combined with Michigan is pretty lethal. Personality. Charisma. Emotional Intelligence. He appears to have it. A lot more important than NBA statistics.
Honestly now. I love BJ Armstrong as much as anyone and he was a great Hawk, BUT he was not an NBA great. He was a role player with Jordan, Pippen and the Jordanaires, end of story. He certainly doesn't have Howards resume in the pro's as a player or coach. Now Ronnie Lester had a hell of a run with the Lakers as a player, scout, and assistant GM. He would have some cred, but he's my age (62) and doubt he'd be interested in the grind.
Sounds like what they thought about the guy in the Big house in the khaki pants doesn't it?
Well, to BJ's credit, he made one All-Star game, which is the same number Howard did. Lol. Seriously, though, none of that would determine BJ's level of success at Iowa. Fred Hoiberg didn't do well at Iowa State because he tore it up in the NBA. He did well because he mastered the art of free agency in college basketball and brought in good players.
The bottom line is a head coach has to be a hell of a salesman to get high-level recruits to come to Iowa. Otherwise, whoever is to become the next head coach will either be more of the same and likely worse than Fran.
FWIW, I wanted Leonard Hamilton years ago.
Yep, the one thing that made Raveling a successful recruiter, connections, and it didn't hurt I'm sure that George looked like a father figure to many of the young recruits. Unfortunately Ole George wasn't much of a game day coach, and he didn't like being in Iowa City, (for various cultural reasons).
And he (B.J.) led the NBA in 3 pt. % one year and was 2nd the next I believe. No, he's not an NBA great but he was a very good player, similar to Juwan Howard in that regard if not better (not real familiar with his career other than longevity and don't care to research it).
No idea how good of a Coach he'd be, but I do think he'd be a solid recruiter.
