Michigan Wolverines: 3 things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving

Reason #2: Juwan Howard

Juwan Howard’s Michigan Wolverines cruised to an impressive 96-82 season-opening victory over the Bowling Green Falcons Wednesday afternoon.

Howard is everything for the University of Michigan that most of us expected from Jim Harbaugh.  Both former players of their respected sports, and with the football program down in the dumps, Harbaugh did return it to relevance, but that’s not good enough.

We expected more; we expected a contender.

In Howard’s case, it was a much different situation.  With the departure of Wolverines’ legendary coach John Beilein, the program was expected to take a significant step back before gaining the traction we hoped.  Michigan Basketball did have it’s share of ups and downs last season, but Wolverines fans are lying if they say Howard didn’t surpass expectations.

Howard has stepped in and started his second year at the helm with a bang signing the country’s top recruiting class.  It’s safe to say the Michigan Wolverines may have found their ‘Tom Izzo’; only time will tell, but things couldn’t be brighter surrounding Michigan hoops at the moment.

In the season opener, the Wolverines shot 54% from the field as a whole, along with 37% from three.  The group got a tremendous effort from team leader Isaiah Livers, who scored 17 and pulled down a team-high nine boards.  Chaundee Brown scored a whopping 19 points in 21 minutes off of the Wolverines’ bench.

Let’s enjoy the ride; Michigan fans need to be thankful for where this basketball program is and where it’s headed.  Cheers to you, Juwan Howard.