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With the scoreboard clock signaling less than three minutes to go before tip-off festivities began, a familiar sight unfolded out of the Michigan tunnel. After players sprinted out of the tunnel for their final pre-game warmups, Juwan Howard walked out with his team of assistants trailing behind him in matching gray Michigan quarter zips. 

Cupped in his hand were some candies that he munched on during his walk to the bench, a typical part of Howard’s pre-game routine. He flashed a peace sign at the student section, another usual sight as he always acknowledges them on his way to the bench. Howard even dapped up an Eastern Michigan player going to his layup line as he headed to great the Eagles’ staff.

And there, the hugs and hellos were a little longer. Even pre game handshakes with refs included more warmth and embrace. Because as typical as his pregame walk out was, Michigan’s win over Eastern Michigan wasn’t a typical game for Juwan Howard. It was his first time acting as head coach in a game since his heart surgery on Sept. 15, his first time standing for the majority of the game since then, and his first time calling all the shots in the high-pressure setting of a college basketball game since the major operation. 

After the game, it was also his first time speaking to the media since his team’s NIT loss last March, his first time being able to share his thoughts and feelings on everything, and he had a lot to say.

Looking at the table in front of him as he sat down, Howard displayed the reflective mood that dominated his presser from the start — noticing the scores of iPhones media members placed to record the presser, he couldn’t help but reminiscence on the days when he sat in front of good old fashioned tape recorders as a player. 

“Thank you all for coming. This is my favorite time, the pressers,” Howard quipped. “It’s good to see some familiar faces, believe it or not, I thought about you guys a lot too. It’s a blessing, truly a blessing. … Just to smell the energy in the building, also to see the fans present and to be there yelling and shouting, calling timeouts, drawing up plays, I remember the times when I was sitting in my hospital room just thinking about like would I ever have that opportunity again.”