Juwan Howard suspended, Greg Gard fined for postgame altercation

February 21, 2022
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

Michigan coach Juwan Howard will not be on the bench for the rest of the regular season.

That was the punishment handed down following an altercation in the handshake line after Wisconsin beat the Wolverines on Sunday. It means Howard will miss the final five games but be eligible to return for the Big Ten Tournament and any potential postseason berth after that.

In addition to the suspension, Howard was fined $40,000.

Michigan players Moussa Diabaté and Terrance Williams were also hit with one-game suspensions for throwing punches, as was Wisconsin’s Jahcobi Neath.

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard was fined $10,000 for his role.

“Big Ten Conference coaches and student-athletes are expected to display the highest level of sportsmanship conduct,” stated Commissioner Kevin Warren in a release. “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.”

The incident started due to Howard being upset with Wisconsin taking a timeout late in the game with a big lead to give its backups a better chance at beating Michigan’s pressure defense. Afterward, Howard told Gard, “I’ll remember that” in the handshake line and things got out of hand with Howard eventually reaching over multiple players to hit Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the head. That led to punches being thrown between players.

Howard released a statement apologizing for his actions, including to Krabbenhoft, though he referred to him as Joel.

Neath’s suspension means he will miss Wednesday’s game at Minnesota but be eligible to return at Rutgers on Saturday.