Michigan freshman Jett Howard is primed to hit the ground running

Michigan Wolverines freshman Jett Howard being the son of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard is a well known fact at this point. What’s not super well known fact is Jett was not a shoe-in to commit to play for his dad. In fact, he was far from it.

Earlier this week, the younger Howard sat down with Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block podcast to discuss his recruitment as well as the bonds he has with the rest of his incoming class.

First off, they touched on Jett’s recruitment.

“I just want to give props to coach Barnes, man,” he said. “He was amazing in that process. He was genuine, he had my mom for a good portion of it. She was leaning towards Tennessee, don’t let her tell you wrong. The first few weeks, I was going to Tennessee. I was telling my aunt that I think this is where I want to be, where I want to play. I came to Michigan on my visit. I was sick so I didn’t really get the chance to see Michigan and listen because I was out of it. I had the flu. When I left I said, you know what, I think I want to go to Tennessee.”

Howard elaborated on what changed his mind: “I came back for a weekend to visit and watch Moussa practice because that was my teammate (in high school). Me and my dad had a good heart to heart moment. He’s really good at telling how I’m feeling in that moment so he kind of understood. I was giving him short responses about Michigan and stuff like that and nodding my head. He was like ‘Man, listen, at the end of the day I’m going to love you regardless. You can play for whoever, I’m still going to be your dad. I’m still going to show up. I will still support you. Don’t think that if you go to Tennessee I’m not going to love you but I personally think I have your best interests in mind.’”

Juwan sold Jett on accountability and earning his spot in the lineup. The family ties were strong here, of course, but it appears there was much more in the picture than that.

Jett also touched on the first practices as a Michigan Wolverine and being coached by his father by saying, “100%, I thank god my dad is my coach now when I’m in this process. For one, I understand the practice plan a little bit better. I understand what he wants and understand how detail oriented he is. From a practice standpoint, it’s been good.”

Jett also spoke about his true freshmen classmates. He has known Gregg Glenn and Dug McDaniel since fourth grade. He also played against Tarris Reed in high school.

“We’re all close. Everybody is close,” he said. “Everybody in the locker room, there’s nothing going on. If there’s a problem, somebody would say it. I think everybody is just really cool to each other and we’re open to criticism. We critique each other. We’re not going to have an attitude or take it the wrong way. That’s why I feel like we’re going to be really good this year.”