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Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard has completed the rest of his staff – and many well-known faces are coming back to Ann Arbor.

On Monday afternoon, UM announced the hiring of Jay Smith as Director of Personnel and Player Development, Chris Hunter as Director of Basketball Operations, and David Metzendorf as Video Analyst. from Jaaron Simmons to the position of Graduate Manager.

All four have close ties to the program – mainly Smith, an assistant coach in Michigan from 1989 to 1996 and a staff member during Howard's U-M career.

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Smith previously served as head coach of Kalamazoo College since 2016. Previously, he was an assistant coach in Detroit from 2008 to 2016. He was head coach of central Michigan from 1998 to 2006, leading the Chippewas to two conference titles and to attend the NCAA Tournament in 2002-03. Previously, he was head coach at Grand Valley State University during the 1996-97 season.

"Many people have helped me throughout my career.However, Jay Smith is a special person with whom I have a deep connection and absolute respect," Howard said in a statement. "He has an incredible passion for the game and his ability to build relationships with young men will be a great asset to us and we are very fortunate to see him return to Ann Arbor and join our staff."

"There are always interesting twists in this game," Smith said. "This can be said for this situation.I have been experiencing a lot of things over the last few years and loved the opportunity that Kalamazoo trusted me … grateful for."

Michigan Guard, Jaaron Simmons, drives to the Alamodome of San Antonio, Texas on Friday, March 30, 2018. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)

The other three support staff members all recently had links to the program. Hunter, a former player from 2002 to 2006, has been part of the Wolverines since 2014. He has been director of basketball operations since 2017.

Metzendorf, who was an assistant coach at Holy Cross last season, studied at high school in Ann Arbor and was a summer intern with the program from 2010 to 2012. He was special assistant to the head coach at Cornell during the 2013-14 season before becoming an assistant coach in 2014-2016.

Simmons spent last year playing professional basketball abroad. The former playmaker was a transfer of graduates during the 2017-18 Michigan season, during which the Wolverines won the Big Ten tournament and qualified for the title.

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Contact Orion Sang at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Learn more about the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.