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Jon Sanderson, the longtime strength and conditioning coach of the Michigan men’s basketball team, resigned from his position Friday after 15 years with the program.
The decision comes two months after Sanderson stopped working with the team.
According to El AtléticoSanderson and the university reached an agreement following his resignation, one that includes a confidentiality clause.
Sanderson’s departure comes nearly three months after he had a confrontation with Michigan head coach Juwan Howard that ended his time working with the men’s team. Since the Dec. 7 incident, Sanderson has primarily worked with the school’s Olympic sports teams.
Documents acquired by The Athletic revealed what Sanderson emailed Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel the day after Sanderson’s confrontation with Juwan Howard.
What led to the incident, according to Sanderson, was an argument between an athletic trainer and senior guard Jace Howard, Juwan’s son. Jace Howard had been out for the season at the time due to a stress fracture and was asking the coaching staff why he hadn’t been cleared to play.
Sanderson wrote that Jace Howard “was berating” the coach and caused a “scene” that caused several players to stop and stare. Sanderson described the scene as “totally out of control” and said the coach was trying to calm Jace Howard down and get him to discuss the matter privately. Noticing that the coach was appearing increasingly desperate and “panicked,” Sanderson intervened and yelled at Howard from about 30 feet away: “you’re a student-athlete and he’s a professional. You don’t talk like that to a professional. That is a lack of respect and a right.” He said he repeated that the tirade was “disrespectful.”
Sanderson wrote in the email to Manuel that he tried to calm the situation by turning his back on him and walking away. When Sanderson looked back, he said Juwan Howard approached him, “angry and ready to fight,” yelling repeatedly as players and staff restrained him.
“He continued to pursue me aggressively to fight, while the players and staff did everything they could to restrain him. He was out of control, it was an ugly scene. I had no choice but to stand my ground, I didn’t back down. “Some players and staff also got in front of me in an effort to keep us apart,” Sanderson wrote.
Sanderson wrote that the players and staff were finally able to restrain Howard, after which the team began practice and Sanderson went to his office.
Even with Juwan Howard enforcing a zero-tolerance policy due to his infamous hit on a Wisconsin assistant coach in 2022, the university cleared him in mid-December after a human resources review. Manuel’s statement said that “based on a thorough internal review, nothing was found to warrant disciplinary action for those involved.”
Jace Howard told the Detroit Free Press in December that the incident was “obviously a misunderstanding so the reports were almost completely false.” When asked about his version, Juwan Howard said he was referring to Manuel’s statement and said: “I think it was clear. “It was precise.”
Sanderson was hired by Michigan in 2009 by former men’s head coach John Beilein. When Howard took over in 2019, he kept Sanderson on his staff.
The Michigan men’s basketball team is currently 8-21 and has lost its last six games and 10 of its previous 11. The team is one loss shy of the school record for losses in a single season.