Jon Sanderson, longtime Michigan basketball strength and conditioning coach and key member of 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 from his position in the athletic department at the University of Michigan, effective March 1. We appreciate Jon’s contributions over the years and wish him all the best for the future.”
Sanderson's exit comes after an agreement was reached with the university, two sources briefed on the agreement said. That agreement contains a confidentiality clause, these 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 at the athletic department's south campus complex primarily with some of the school's Olympic sports teams.
Sanderson's attorney referred all questions to the university. A text message to Sanderson was not immediately returned.
Sanderson made additional complaints about the program culture under Howard that were unrelated to the Dec. 7 incident, a source briefed on the matter said.
This 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 that point, Jace Howard had missed the entire season with a stress fracture and was questioning the coaching staff, who had not yet cleared him to play.
On Dec. 8, Sanderson shared his version of events in an email to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, according to documents obtained by The Athletic.
Sanderson wrote that Jace Howard “abused” the coach and caused a “scene” that caused several players to stop and watch. Sanderson described the scene as “completely out of control” and said the coach tried to calm Jace Howard and get him to discuss the matter privately. When Sanderson noticed that the coach seemed increasingly distressed and “panicked,” he intervened and yelled at Howard from about 30 feet away: “You're a student-athlete and he's a professional.” You don't talk to a professional like that. This is disrespectful and justified.” He said he reiterated that the tirade was “disrespectful.”
Sanderson wrote in the email to Manuel that he tried to de-escalate the situation by turning and walking away. When Sanderson looked back, he said Juwan Howard came toward him “angry and ready to fight” and repeatedly yelled while players and staff held him back.
“He continued to aggressively pursue me to fight while the players and staff did their best to hold him back. He was out of control, it was an ugly scene. I had no choice but to stand firm, I didn't give in. A few players and staff also stood in front of me to separate us,” Sanderson wrote.
Sanderson wrote that players and staff were ultimately able to restrain Howard, after which the team began practice and Sanderson went to his office.
Manuel emailed Sanderson a response a day later, on Dec. 10, in which he wrote, “I'm sorry to hear about the negative interaction between you and Juwan” and stated that Tiffany Raymond, assistant athletic director U-M Human Resources said it would launch an initiative to review the incident the following day (Dec. 11) “to learn more details and offer support.” Manuel also told Sanderson that he would “speak directly with Juwan.”
In an email obtained by The Athletic, a Dec. 15 email from Raymond said Sanderson would be given the opportunity to meet with Howard and human resources officials to “candidly share past frustrations and concerns, to clear the air and start anew.” a “transition to ongoing support of other Olympic teams.”
Sanderson told Raymond that he intended to remain with the basketball program and had elected to participate in a facilitation session. In that email, Sanderson said his supervisor told him to avoid team facilities and that Manuel did not want him to have contact with student-athletes on the men's basketball team; Sanderson said he wanted to ensure that no false statements were made to the media or the public about his absence.
“No one should point out that it is voluntary,” Sanderson wrote.
On December 15, the University cleared Howard of any wrongdoing in the Sanderson incident following a personnel review. In a statement, Manuel said the university “investigated an incident involving multiple individuals during a team practice” and “based on a thorough internal review, nothing was found that would warrant disciplinary action against anyone involved.”
Howard never publicly shared his account of the event. He told reporters to refer only to Manuel's statement: “I think it was clear. It was precise.”
Sanderson arrived at Michigan in 2009 and joined John Beilein's staff as a strength and conditioning coach. He became a mainstay of the program, working with 17 NBA draft picks, including 11 first-rounders. He was one of the 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 State (2000-02), is one of the most respected strength coaches in college basketball and will likely be pursued heavily 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 has scholarship offers from numerous seniors 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, leading to a scuffle in which Howard slammed 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 an Elite Eight appearance in 2021. This season, Michigan stands however, at 8-21 overall and 3-15 in the Big Ten with two games remaining in the regular season.
Howard missed significant time earlier this season due to heart surgery in September. He returned to the UM bench in November as an assistant to Phil Martelli, who served as the program's interim head coach during Howard's recovery.
Howard has a contract that runs until the 2025/26 season, which was last extended in November 2021.
(Photo: Hannah Fountain / CameraSport via Getty Images)