Defend the Block: Eisley on Teaching the Next Generation
10/5/2021 7:52:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Features
By Kyle Terwillegar
University of Michigan men's basketball assistant coach Howard Eisley knows a thing or two about playing basketball at the highest level.
For more than 12 years, the Detroit native who played high school ball with Wolverine legend Jalen Rose and then led Boston College to the Elite Eight, played for eight different NBA franchises, including a season in Dallas with another of the Fab Five -- his current boss and men's basketball coach Juwan Howard.
When it was time to hang up the sneakers, he went on to serve as an assistant coach for three franchises over the course of nine years.
All along the way, he learned from so many people and experienced so many things that have molded him into the coach he is today, now in his third year as part of Howard's staff as the team works toward its Nov. 10 season opener against Buffalo at Crisler Center.
"It would have been a disservice to myself not to have learned from a lot of different cultures that I've worked for and played for," Eisley told host Brian Boesch on this week's episode of the "Defend the Block" podcast. "I had the opportunity and luxury to play for some great coaches and know what I try to do is take something from each one of those coaches that helped mold me as a coach ... I think I've grown as a coach and continue to look to grow and am eager to learn."
In Utah he learned from Jerry Sloan and played with Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone; in Dallas it was Don Nelson and guard Steve Nash; for the Los Angeles Clippers it was Mike Dunleavy as a player then Vinny Del Negro and Doc Rivers as an assistant; and in Dever it was George Karl. Between Hall of Famers Nelson, Sloan and Karl alone -- three of the nine coaches in NBA history with more than 1,000 career wins -- that's 3,731 NBA victories, and an untold wealth of perspective and experience.
For everything he learned -- and is still learning -- both on and off the court during his career, he takes the most joy in passing it down to the young men he is coaching in Ann Arbor.
"It has been great because at the NBA level, you tend to really focus more on just basketball," he explained. "Everything is specialized there. They have their own financial guys. They have their own agents. They have their own managers.
"Here, you take on a much bigger role in helping mentor guys. They really lean on you and depend on you and they seek your advice, especially the ones that have aspirations or opportunities to play at the next level and want to know what it takes to get there. That's been awesome for me to be able to give back and share."
There is no shortage of Wolverines taking him up on that open invitation. Chaundee Brown Jr., Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner all played for Howard and Eisley at Michigan and are currently on NBA rosters ahead of the 2021-22 season, in addition to Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske in the NBA G League. The NBA may well be a future destination for several others currently on the U-M roster, several of whom Eisley discusses in detail with Boesch on "Defend the Block".
Given the respective backgrounds of Howard and Eisley, that is not by accident.
"I think what we're instilling in our guys here is we want to help them be ahead of the curve where that transition will be seamless," he said "And I think it's documented that a lot of the terminology and a lot of things we do are NBA-based because that's [mine and Howard's] backgrounds. Those are the things that we are familiar with, so to put [the student-athletes] in positions and give them an understanding of what it's going to be expected at the next level, I think really gives those guys a jumpstart and hopefully give them a better opportunity to succeed at that next level."
But just as there is much more to the University of Michigan as a whole than its athletic programs, so too is there more to University of Michigan men's basketball than its status as a top collegiate program and its pipeline to the NBA.
"You know, we really talked a lot about going to the NBA. I think it really doesn't cover all the things that we try to do here in the program," Eisley said. "Obviously we know everyone doesn't have the opportunity to play in the NBA, but we are able to really help guys and teach life skills they are going to be able to carry with them throughout the rest of their lives. And I think we're more focused on that. I think one of the things we really preach and stress is carryover. The way you perform on the court will directly affect, you know, your work ethic and habits that you were doing anything else in your life."
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