(Update, July 6: Michigan head coach Juwan Howard did not commit an NCAA violation in discussing Franz Wagner, as Wagner had already signed with Michigan at the time of Howard’s comments.)

Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard gave a much-anticipated update on German prospect Franz Wagner on Tuesday.

In doing so, he committed an NCAA violation.

Howard, appearing on the Jim Rome radio show with guest hosts Jason and Randy Sklar, talked about the recruitment of Wagner, a 17-year-old who is deciding between playing for Michigan next season or staying with Alba Berlin, a professional team in his native country.

It is against NCAA rules for coaches to publicly discuss unsigned recruits.

The Sklar brothers, a comedy duo whose time as Michigan students overlapped with Howard's, asked about Wagner at the end of the interview.

"There's a piece out there that people at Michigan know, Franz Wagner, Moe Wagner's little brother who's out in Germany," one of the brothers said.

"Feel free to announce that he is going to commit to Michigan right here on the air. If you want to, you can. How hard are you working that situation to try to get a guy like that in?"

"Our communication has been great," Howard said. "Right now, he is making a decision if he is going to play with his national team to represent his country in the (FIBA) World Cup championship tournament. I highly recommend that he does. That's a chance of a lifetime.

…

"At the end of the day, we've been communicating on whenever that process is over with, we'd love to have him on campus, wear a Michigan jersey just like his brother, and at some point compete for the University of Michigan and help this team in any way possible, and become a student-athlete at the university."

Howard's answer violated NCAA bylaw 13.10.2.1. "Generally speaking, NCAA rules only allow for a coach to confirm that the school is recruiting a specific prospect when asked, unless that prospect has signed an official offer of admission or financial aid," an NCAA spokesperson told MLive on Wednesday.

"These rules were adopted by member schools and are intended to prevent schools from engaging the general public (including passionate fan bases) to put additional pressure on prospects as they weigh all of their options about college choices."

It would seem Howard did not intend to violate the spirit of the rule, as he went as far as telling the Sklar brothers, "It would be unfair to him and it would be very selfish if we tried to pressure him in that way."

The World Cup takes place Aug. 31 through Sep. 15. Germany's first game is Sep. 1 in China. Howard did not mention any timeline for Wagner's decision.

He did tell the Sklar brothers, "I don't know if I'm allowed to say his name because of the NCAA rules."

"You aren't," one of the brothers responded. "I said it. We said it. You didn't say his name."

Howard never mentioned Wagner by name, but that won't matter as far as the NCAA is concerned. The punishment, however, is not likely to be severe. Michigan can report it as the secondary violation that it is, and it is possible the NCAA will not impose any penalties.

Michigan athletic department officials did not respond to a request for comment. The Sklar brothers responded but declined to provide a comment on the record.

At Howard's introductory press conference on May 30, he was asked what would be the biggest learning curve in transitioning from the NBA -- he was an assistant coach with the Miami Heat the past six years -- to college.

"Recruiting is going to be a challenge," Howard said then. "I have to first understand all of the rules. I want to continue to make sure this culture does not take a step back. I will learn and get into the rulebook of the NCAA, as far as what you are allowed to do and what you're not allowed to do. That's going to be one of the biggest challenges. To my understanding, there are a lot of rules out there."

A few minutes later, he mentioned incoming freshman Cole Bajema, saying that despite Howard taking over for John Beilein, “Cole has recommitted and will be signing his letter of intent soon to attend the University of Michigan.”

If that had been true, Howard mentioning it would have been an NCAA violation in the same category as Tuesday’s mention of Wagner. But Bajema had already signed his letter of intent and had never asked for a release, therefore making him fair game for public discussion.