Michigan head coach Juwan Howard has been suspended by the Big Ten conference for the remainder of the regular season — five games — and fined $40,000 after striking Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft in the face following the Wolverines’ 77-63 loss to the Badgers on Sunday.
“Big Ten conference coaches and student-athletes are expected to display the highest level of sportsmanship conduct,” Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement. “I am grateful for the partnership with Michigan athletics director, Warde Manuel and Wisconsin athletics director, Chris McIntosh.”
“Our expectation is that the incident (Sunday) will provide our coaches and student-athletes with the opportunity to reflect, learn and move forward in a manner that demonstrates decorum and leadership on and off of the court,” Warren continued.
Toward the end of Sunday’s game, Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard took a timeout with 0:15 seconds left in the second half and the Badgers up 76-61. The timeout clearly angered Howard, who attempted to walk by Gard in the handshake line. Gard appeared to grab Howard as he walked by, causing the two to exchange words. After players and coaches from both teams got in between the two head coaches, Howard took an open-handed swing at Krabbenhoft, starting a brawl between the two Big Ten squads.
Howard, who was not apologetic on Sunday, apologized in a statement on Monday.
“After taking time to reflect on all that happened, I realize how unacceptable both my actions and words were, and how they affected so many. I am truly sorry,” Howard said 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,” the statement continued. “I would like to personally apologize to Wisconsin’s assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft and his family, too.”
“Lastly, 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!”
Gard was not suspended for his role in the brawl, but was fined $10,000 by the conference. Terrance Williams and Moussa Diabate of Michigan, along with Wisconsin’s Jahcobi Neath were each suspended one game for their role in the altercation.
On Sunday, Gard told CBS that he called the timeout so that his team would not incur a half-court violation.
“Apparently he didn’t like that I called the timeout to reset the 10-second call,” Gard told CBS.
“Because we only had four seconds to get the ball over half court,” Gard said. “I didn’t want to put my backups — I had all my bench guys in the game — I didn’t want to put them in that position of scrambling with only four seconds. So, I took a timeout and got us a new 10 seconds and it helped them get organized and get the ball in. And he did not like that when he came through the handshake line. I’ll leave it at that and the tape will show the rest.”
According to The Detroit News, Howard could return for the Big Ten tournament, but that decision has not yet been made.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].
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Source: Dailywire
