Michigan is suspending Juwan Howard for the rest of the regular season, according to a release by the Big Ten. He will also be fined $40,000. The punishment comes at the heels of an altercation on Sunday with the Wisconsin basketball team, where Howard swung at Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft. He’ll miss a total of five games.
The altercation ensued after Sunday’s game because Howard was upset with Wisconsin coach Greg Gard for calling a timeout in the game's final seconds with a large lead. During the handshake line, Howard can be seen poking Gard in the chest and Gard appeared to grab Howard by the shirt. An ugly scene followed where coaches and players had to be restrained.
During the altercation, Howard swung at Krabbenhoft and multiple players were involved in the physical altercation.
Gard later explained that he called the timeout to reset the clock so that his team could get across half court without getting a violation. He also said that Howard told him “I’ll remember that,” before he poked him. Howard explained that he was protecting himself when a coach put their hands on him.
The Big Ten was limited to only suspending Howard, at most, two games and $10,000, per the conference's sportsmanship policy. However, Michigan has the ability to add on additional punishment.
Michigan forwards Terrance Williams II and Moussa Diabate will be suspended one game. Gard was dealt a $10,000 fine and Wisconsin guard Jahcobi Neath was suspended one game.
