LeBron James, Dwayne Wade endorse Juwan Howard as new Michigan basketball coach

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – One of the top candidates to become the next Michigan basketball coach has received endorsements from two of the most famous players in the NBA.

Dwayne Wade and LeBron James took to Twitter late Wednesday night to share their opinions of Juwan Howard's reported candidacy for the head job in Ann Arbor.

"My guy deserves this opportunity," Wade tweeted, in part. "This will only be right."

"Man, what? Absolutely the right choice and I hope it becomes a done deal ASAP," James tweeted. "One of my favorite people I've ever met at the age of 16 and been around since then."

Howard, who played three seasons at Michigan from 1991-1994 and was a member of the Fab Five, has been listed among the leading candidates throughout the coaching search. Michigan was sent scrambling for a new coach when John Beilein unexpectedly left to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Wade and James added to the long list of Howard endorsements, which includes former Fab Five members Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Jimmy King.

Howard was on the Miami Heat teams, led by James and Wade, that won NBA championships in 2012 and 2013.

Michigan has not made an official announcement, but another potential outside candidate, Ed Cooley, signed an extension Tuesday to stay at Providence. Howard is said to be competing with Michigan assistants Luke Yaklich and Saddi Washington for the job.

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