Phil Martelli’s new life at Michigan

February 10, 2020 at 2:01 pm Andrew Kahn Leave a comment

Some interviews are challenging, requiring persistent prodding to get the subject to open up and share something interesting.

My interview with Phil Martelli was not like this at all. Martelli, the former long-time head coach at Saint Joseph’s who is in his first year as an assistant on Juwan Howard’s staff at Michigan, is one of the best storytellers in college basketball.

Here is my story on Martelli, who for the first time in a quarter century is not the head coach, and for the first time in his life is not living in the Philadelphia area.

Phil Martelli: ‘The Godfather’ who has brought a taste of Philly to Michigan basketball

Michigan Wolverines, NCAA Basketball

A father lives to see his son fulfill his dream

February 4, 2020 at 11:17 am Andrew Kahn Leave a comment

It’s been a while since my last update. I thought I’d sent one in December, but it never published, so today’s post will include several stories from this, my third season covering the Michigan basketball team for MLive/The Ann Arbor News.

The first is about a recent addition to the team, Brandon Wade, an Ann Arbor native whose dad needed a liver transplant a few years ago and is grateful to be alive to watch his son play college basketball.

Here are some others that might appeal to a non-Michigan audience:

Up close and personal with Juwan Howard for a game

How Michigan and Kentucky agreed to play a game in London

A former Michigan football player joined the Marines

You can find all my stories on my personal MLive page. You can also download MLive’s UM Hoops app to your phone. I’ve got a story about one of the more entertaining personalities in college basketball, Michigan assistant Phil Martelli, coming this week.

Thanks for reading!

Other

Michigan, ND fight songs; Juwan Howard’s acting career

October 25, 2019 at 8:32 am Andrew Kahn Leave a comment

In a topic that will strike a chord with many of the readers here, I wrote about the fight songs at Michigan and Notre Dame. Determining whether one song is better than another is impossible, but that didn’t stop me from trying.

I also did some digging into the brief acting career of Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard, who appeared on TV shows such as “Hang Time” and “The West Wing.” I spoke to some of the actors on the show to learn more about his time on set.

I had fun writing both of these stories and hope you enjoy reading them!

Michigan vs. Notre Dame: Which school has the better fight song?

A history of Juwan Howard’s acting career