The Michigan Wolverines earned the No. 1 seed in the East Region in Sunday’s NCAA Tournament bracket reveal, and they’re ready to go dancing with a 20-4 record.
Head coach Juwan Howard reacted along with his team earlier tonight, stating that he’s proud of the journey through adversity that they’ve accomplished so far.
“It made me feel great. I was excited to see that we were seeded No. 1, because it proved that this team — and I repeat, the team, the players, the staff — worked so hard to get to this point the entire year,” Howard said. “It’s been a very long journey. At times, it’s been stressful, but there have been a lot of highs outweighing the lows.”
“Everything that we’ve dealt with, and our guys have competed so hard, so they deserve to be in this position right now. Now, the real work starts, and we’re looking forward to that.”
Of course, this isn’t Howard’s first go-around in the NCAA Tournament. As a famed member of the “Fab Five”, Howard helped lead the Wolverines to the No. 1 seed in 1993, eventually losing in the the national championship title game for the second straight season.
“Right now, I’m just as calm as could be,” he said. “But as a player, at the time, being a No. 1 seed, being a No. 6 seed and then my junior year being a No. 3 seed. There are a lot of different emotions going on as a player. You feel really excited; you worked so hard leading up to this point, and every college basketball player wants to get to the tournament because you want to win, the ultimate goal is to win the championship and cut down the nets.
“Now as a coach, I get that opportunity again. I will never forget, going back to my [opening] press conference, when I said ‘unfinished business.’ This is the unfinished business.”
– – Quotes via Sports Illustrated Link – –
