Nearly two weeks ago, the Michigan basketball program was rocked by news of John Beilein's departure for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Players like center Jon Teske, who Beilein had recruited to Michigan, were shocked by the move.
"I couldn't really believe it," Teske said Thursday. "Obviously, I had no clue."
As the program embarked upon a nine-day coaching search, the players were left in an unfamiliar and uncertain position, awaiting the arrival of their next head coach.
Their wait ended May 22, when Juwan Howard was hired as head coach.
And although they could have considered other options or transferred to different programs during that nine-day period, Michigan's players chose to stick together.
How? A combination of constant contact among the players staying in Ann Arbor — and plenty of communication as a team.
“A lot of FaceTime calls, long calls, texts, group chats,” said jforward Isaiah Livers. “Just staying connected and making sure everybody’s good every day.”
According to Teske, the players who remained in Ann Arbor after the semester ended tried to take the coaching search "day by day, because we didn't really know what was going to happen."
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Those players worked out together every day and played pickup basketball. They hung out off the court, too.
“It actually made us closer," said wing Adrien Nunez. "We were all going over to each other’s houses, watching basketball games, cooking burgers and stuff like that, so it kinda just made us a more tight-knit group in the end, for real.”
While several players were missing from Ann Arbor, they were still kept in the loop through text messages, video conferences and phone calls.
For Teske, it was important to keep in touch with everyone — especially the younger players.
"A good majority of the younger guys are here," Teske said. "Just being with them every day helped a lot."
When Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel contacted Teske during the coaching search, Teske suggested Manuel talk to other players as well.
"Warde, he called me during this process, I told him it’d be good if he came in and talked to the younger guys, so he did," Teske said. "About the process. Keeping the young guys together, just through this tough time that it was.”
Some, like Livers, never wavered in their commitment to the program.
“Honestly, when I heard both the news, I’m a Michigan man,” Livers said. “There was no other place. It’s my junior year. There’s no reason to go. I have a great opportunity here, so I was excited.”
For now, Michigan has yet to experience any attrition as a result of the coaching search — which could be key for the future of the team, as the Wolverines already have three open scholarships for the 2019-20 season.
“I wanted to hear (what they were thinking)," Livers said. "Most guys were like, 'Oh, we’re just going to wait (to see) who comes in.' For now, it looks like everybody’s happy and nobody’s really going to make that decision (to leave). I told them if you are going to make that decision, just let me know so I can know ahead of time.”
Listen: The Michigan Rant podcast: The Juwan Howard era begins
While there was initially some uncertainty, that later gave way to excitement when the players found out Howard would be the next head coach. According to Livers, "everybody was happy."
After accepting the job, Howard called each player individually and began to develop relationships. Thursday morning, he talked in-person with the team for the first time during a meeting that took place about 10 a.m. According to the players, there wasn't much basketball discussed. It was mostly about getting to know each other.
A couple hours later, the players sat on the floor of Crisler Center and watched as their new coach teared up during his formal introduction. They watched as he took to the stage and cried some more.
It only left even more of a positive impression.
“It just made us even more excited," Livers said. "You’ve got your head coach up there crying, before he even gets called up there, that just shows he’s going to put in a lot of work. He’s really going to push his players to be great. Even off the court, he mentioned that earlier, he just wants our players to be good people. No matter what you do, he’s going to support us.”
Michigan's players are in the process of getting to know Howard. They're unsure of what the future will look like, especially when it comes to Xs and Os. But they're excited about what's next.
“I can’t get Coach B back. Obviously, I came here with his recruiting, but at the same time, I’m going to embrace the new situation," Nunez said. "Everyone’s like, 'How are you having such a positive outlook?' but we have Juwan Howard as our head coach.
"Who doesn’t want to play for a guy who’s part of the Fab Five, who coached at the Heat, who has so many connections in the NBA, knows so much about basketball? It’s a positive.”
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Contact Orion Sang: osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2019/05/31/michigan-basketball-isaiah-livers-jon-teske-juwan-howard/1290689001/
2019-05-31 11:01:00Z
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