Saddi Washington Commends Juwan Howard's Leadership During The Offseason

As Michigan basketball heads through the summer months uncertain on what this upcoming season will hold, Wolverines assistant coach Saddi Washington conducted an interview with The Huge Show on Tuesday and took a look ahead to the 2020-21 season.

During the conversation, Washington and host Bill Simonson discussed topics that range from the unlikely conclusion to last season to the possibility that Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner would turn pro to how this year's squad will look.

One distinct aspect that may benefit U-M basketball is that head coach Juwan Howard will enter his second year at the helm of the Wolverines, and Washington says the Michigan headman has continued a lot of positive traits established by John Beilein.

“Coach Juwan, he was the right coach for this team, and I say that respectfully,” Washington said. “Again, just because I think that this team had a different set of identities that really, that coach Juwan was ready to identify with in terms of trying to get the best out of them. I really appreciate our staff and Coach [Phil] Martelli and Coach [Howard] Eisley and Jay [Smith] and all the new faces that coach put into place for us to be successful.”

Washington is a carryover from Beilein's regime, and the U-M assistant indicated that much of the operations surrounding Michigan basketball remain the same as in previous years.

“But like I said, in terms of our thoroughness and our preparation, a lot of the way we practice, a lot of the film study, a lot of that was almost identical to what we had been doing previously, so I think that's what also helped with the transition from one regime to the next.”

One aspect that instilled a slight dose of fear into many Michigan fans was the repeated departure of players who were expected to play a role on this year's squad, such as David DeJulius and Cole Bajema. The former will be on Cincinnati's team this year, and the latter has joined Washington's program. Big man Colin Castleton also transferred to Florida.

These departures, though, do not deter Washington from his hopes of a successful 2020-21 campaign, nor does he feel that they are indicative of any issue within the Michigan program. Rather, players shift around each offseason, and Michigan had a couple players enter the transfer portal in search of other opportunities.

“I think it was really, really pretty normal attrition,” Washington said. “I know a lot of people reacted pretty strongly like the house was burning down or something, but it's no different really than guys just transferring because they're looking for a different situation that they feel meets their needs or we've got guys like Isaiah who are still going through the draft process and have that opportunity. So, to me it was normal attrition, and I think just the excitement with the potential of signing some of the guys that we were in the mix with and ultimately did not get, it was just a lot for Michigan's fans and supporters to kind of take all in. It almost seemed like everything happened all at once over the course of a week.

“But again, to coach Juwan's credit and the rest of our staff, his leadership, he was poised throughout it,” Washington said. “Having been through this before, it's like, 'hey man, its going to work out how it's going to work out.' We'll field a team of motivated guys who are running all in the same direction come time to play, and that's where our focus was.”

One player that will be relied upon heavily to provide Michigan with a strong scoring presence throughout the season if he returns will be Isaiah Livers. Last year, Livers averaged 12.9 points and four assists in 21 games, but he is expected to help lead U-M on the offensive end this season.

According to Washington, Livers is still working through the interview process with NBA teams, but optimism remains that he will be a member of the Wolverines by the time the season begins.

“Again, we are just trying to build this thing the right way and come hopefully the fall or whenever practice starts, putting the right pieces to help us win a Big Ten championship and hopefully put us in a position to win a National Championship,” Washington said. “That's our focus right now and making sure guys are doing their due diligence, return back to campus healthy and then also just whenever we can start getting back in the gym, just putting those pieces back in place.”

Franz Wagner, who averaged 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last year, is another member that will be called upon to take a step forward and provide a much-needed scoring and rebounding presence this season.

Saddi Washington is not concerned with the state of Michigan basketball ahead of the 2020-21 season. Is his perspective accurate in your eyes? What will be the keys for the Wolverines this year? Let us know!