Michigan addresses suspension of point guard Dug McDaniel

Not too long after the Michigan Wolverines captured the 2023 college football national championship, their men’s basketball program began to make a few headlines for a recent situation involving one of their players. Wolverines sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel revealed from his social media account that he would not be with the program for their next six road games. However, it appears that those won’t be the only games he’ll miss.

Following McDaniel’s post, the Michigan Athletic Department released a statement addressing the issue at hand. The statement, seen below, is courtesy of head coach Juwan Howard.

“We have very high standards within our program, culture, and university. Serving as mentors, we need to set the standard and pathways for our young men to succeed,” said Howard.

“Beginning with our game at Maryland, Dug McDaniel will not travel to road games until further notice. Dug will dress for home games; however, when we are away from Ann Arbor, he will work towards meeting several academic goals he has set and needs to meet.

“While I am disappointed, this is not something we take lightly. This is an important step for Dug and his success as a student-athlete. Going forward we will not have further comment.”

The road games McDaniel’s is expected to miss will be against some of the heavy hitters of Big Ten basketball. The young and talented sophomore point guard will not travel and play against Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, and the current top team in the nation, Purdue.

Michigan’s Phil Martelli explains historical significance of The Palestra

The history of the Palestra is not lost on Michigan basketball coach Phil Martelli as the Wolverines faced Penn State in the historic building on Sunday afternoon.

In a unique Big Ten game, Michigan is actually playing Penn State in Philadelphia rather than State College, in large part, to honor Martelli. Head coach Juwan Howard even handed over the keys to the elder former St. Joe’s coach to lead the way in this contest.

So when interviewed before the game, Martelli was asked about the rich history of the Palestra and why it hold such a special place in American basketball history, especially at the college level.

He explained what a neat opportunity it always is to play there:

“For our players, and for the Penn State players, for our coaches, for the Penn State coaches, we’re walking where the greatest to have ever done this are walking, you know.”

Martelli then listed several behemoth hoops figures who made a stop by the Palestra during their playing days.

“Pick a name. Did Wilt Chamberlain play here? Oh yeah, Wilt Chamberlain played here. For those that don’t know Wilt Chamberlain, I’m sorry. Kobe played here as a high school player.”

Of course, the Palestra belongs to the University of Penn, and it’s games against the Quakers which Martelli recalls so fondly from his older coaching days.

“It’s hosted the most NCAA games, but it’s the Friday and the Saturday nights when the Philadelphia teams were playing here that just make it absolutely extraordinary.”