Juwan Howard cleared to return as Michigan's head basketball coach, AD announces

Juwan Howard will be Michigan men's basketball's head coach when it takes the court against Eastern Michigan on Saturday at Crisler Center (2:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network).

“Juwan Howard will return to the Michigan bench Saturday (Dec. 16) against Eastern Michigan in his total capacity as head coach," athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement released Friday night. "Coach Howard, his doctors and our medical experts remain aligned in taking this next step as he recovers from a September heart procedure."

Just three hours earlier that was very much in question when acting head coach Phil Martelli spoke for 15 minutes on a video call with reporters. The call, which was scheduled to preview the game, instead served as the first platform to ask a member of U-M's program on the record about a reported altercation between Howard and strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson.

Reports surfaced earlier this week that Sanderson had filed an HR claim over the incident and U-M was in the process of conducting an internal review. Per Manuel's statement, that review is now complete and there will be no punishments handed down.

“The return of our usual coaching structure comes after a review of an incident involving several individuals during a team practice last week," Manuel's statement said. "Based on a thorough internal review, nothing was found to warrant disciplinary action for anyone involved. As such, we will move forward with a focus on our team and our season.”

Michigan (5-5, 1-1 Big Ten) has held exactly even as Howard, 50, returns to the bench following heart surgery on Sept. 15. There was never a specific timetable for Howard's return, but he was given a projected six- to 12-week recovery timeline: his return will come just past the 13th week.

Though Saturday will be the first time he officially serves as head coach this season, he's been "as active as ever" during practice, according to Martelli, and began a phased return more than three weeks ago.

Howard informally sat on the bench over Thanksgiving at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas (he was ejected from the final game), then returned as an assistant on Nov. 30, a role he's served the past three games — at Oregon, vs. Indiana and at Iowa.

The expectation, now that everybody is back to their usual position, is Martelli will return to his role as lead assistant, while assistants Saddi Washington (defense) and Howard Eisley (offense) will put more of a focus on their areas of expertise.

“We greatly appreciate associate head coach Phil Martelli’s guidance of our program on an interim basis to start the season," Manuel's statement said. "I want to personally thank Phil for what he has done in the past few months to lead the program. We will continue to benefit from his wisdom moving forward."

Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.