Jon Sanderson, the longtime Michigan basketball strength and conditioning coach and key figure on the staff of two Final Four teams, has officially parted ways with the university after 15 years with the program.
The university confirmed Sanderson’s departure in a statement to The Athletic, saying: “Jon Sanderson has resigned his position with the University of Michigan Athletic Department, effective March 1. We appreciate Jon’s contributions over the years and wish him the best going forward.”
Sanderson’s exit comes after reaching a settlement with the university, two sources briefed on the agreement said. That agreement includes a non-disclosure clause, those sources said.
Sanderson’s departure follows a Dec. 7 confrontation with Michigan head coach Juwan Howard that resulted in Sanderson no longer working with the men’s basketball program. Sanderson spent the last 12 weeks working out of the athletic department’s south campus complex primarily with some of the school’s Olympic sports teams.
Sanderson’s attorney deferred all questions to the university. A text message to Sanderson was not immediately returned.
Sanderson levied additional complaints about the program’s culture under Howard unrelated to the Dec. 7 incident, a source briefed on the matter said.
That confrontation between Howard and Sanderson stemmed from a disagreement between an athletic trainer and senior guard Jace Howard, Juwan’s 22-year-old son. At the time, Jace Howard had missed the entire season with a stress fracture and questioned the training staff not yet clearing him to play.
On Dec. 8, according to documents obtained by The Athletic, Sanderson shared his version of events of what followed in an email to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel.
Sanderson wrote that Jace Howard “was berating” the trainer and caused a “scene” that prompted several players to stop and watch. Sanderson described the scene as “totally out of control,” and said the trainer was trying to calm Jace Howard down and get him to discuss the matter privately. Noticing the trainer looking increasingly desperate and “panicked,” Sanderson intervened, yelling at Howard from roughly 30 feet away “you’re a student athlete and he is a professional. You don’t talk to a professional like that. That is disrespectful and entitled.” He said he repeated that the tirade was “disrespectful.”
Sanderson wrote in the email to Manuel that he tried to de-escalate the situation, turning his back and walking away. When Sanderson looked back, he said Juwan Howard came at him, “angry and ready to fight,” repeatedly yelling as players and staff held him back.
“He kept aggressively pursuing me to fight, as the players and staff were doing their best 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. A few of the players and staff got in front of me as well in an effort to keep us separated,” Sanderson wrote.
Sanderson wrote that players and staff were ultimately able to restrain Howard, after which the team started practice and Sanderson went to his office.
Manuel emailed Sanderson a reply one day later on Dec. 10, writing, “I am sorry to hear about the negative interaction between you and Juwan,” and stating Tiffany Raymond, U-M’s assistant athletic director of human resources, would be initiating a review of the incident the following day (Dec. 11) “to get more detail and offer support.” Manuel also informed Sanderson he would “be speaking with Juwan directly.”
Among the emails obtained by The Athletic, one from Raymond on Dec. 15 states that Sanderson would be given the option to meet with Howard and HR officials to “openly share past frustrations and concerns in an effort to clear the air and start fresh” or a “transition to support other Olympics teams on a permanent basis.”
Sanderson told Raymond that he intended to remain with the basketball program and that he elected to participate in a facilitation session. In that email, Sanderson said he was told by his superior to avoid team facilities and that Manuel didn’t want him having contact with student athletes from the men’s basketball team; Sanderson said he wanted to ensure no false statement would be made to the media or public about his absence.
“No one should indicate that it is voluntary,” Sanderson wrote.
On Dec. 15, following an HR review, the university cleared Howard of any wrongdoing in the Sanderson incident. In a statement, Manuel said the university reviewed “an incident involving several individuals during a team practice,” and, “based on a thorough internal review, nothing was found to warrant disciplinary action for anyone involved.”
Howard has never publicly shared his account of the event. He told reporters only to refer to Manuel’s statement, saying “I think it was clear. It was precise.”
Sanderson arrived at Michigan in 2009, joining John Beilein’s staff as strength and conditioning coach. He became a program mainstay, working with 17 NBA Draft picks, including 11 first-rounders. He was one of a few holdovers from Beilein’s staff when Howard was hired in 2019.
Mike Favre, Michigan’s strength and conditioning director, has replaced Sanderson on the bench since December.
Sanderson, who played at Ohio State (1997-99) and Ohio (2000-02), is one of the more well-regarded strength coaches in college basketball and is likely to be heavily pursued by other programs in the offseason. His son, Jonathan Sanderson, a 6-foot-2 point guard, is ranked among the top 50 players in the 2026 recruiting class. Jonathan is currently a sophomore at Saline High School, just outside Ann Arbor, and holds scholarship offers from numerous high-major programs, including Michigan.
Howard was placed on a zero-tolerance policy by Michigan following a postgame altercation following a loss to Wisconsin in February 2022. After that game, Howard exchanged words with Wisconsin coach Greg Gard in the postgame handshake line, resulting in a skirmish during which Howard struck Badgers assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the head.
Howard, 51, is 87-69 overall and 49-46 in Big Ten play at Michigan, including a Big Ten regular season title and Elite Eight appearance in 2021.
Howard missed significant time early this season following heart surgery in September. In November, he returned to the U-M bench as an assistant to Phil Martelli, who served as the program’s acting head coach during Howard’s recovery.
Howard is on a contract running through the 2025-26 season that was last extended in November 2021.
(Photo: Hannah Fountain / CameraSport via Getty Images)
