Dylan Harper injury update: Status of Rutgers star revealed vs. Michigan

Rutgers freshman guard Dylan Harper was ruled out for the Scarlet Knights’ game against Michigan Saturday with an ankle injury.

This is the second straight game Harper will miss due to an ankle injury, per the latest injury report. Rutgers is coming off a win over Northwestern on the road without Harper.

Head coach Steve Pikiell didn’t commit to Harper’s return against Michigan, a 3:30 p.m. ET tipoff Saturday, following a win over the Wildcats.

“We want him back at 100 percent,” Pikiell said, via NJ Advance Media. “I don’t know what that means.”

Despite not having Harper, Ace Bailey, a fellow five-star freshman, led the way for Rutgers in a 79-72 win. Bailey put up 37 points and six rebounds as the Scarlet Knights (11-10) got a desperately needed win.

They’ll need the same type of effort against Michigan if the team has any hope of returning to the NCAA Tournament picture.

“Even when he’s not playing, he’s helping us,” Bailey told the Big Ten Network after the game. “He’s talking. During media timeouts, he’s telling us what they’re running and what they’re doing. But without him, it’s not challenging because we have guys stepping up and playing their roles.”

Harper and Bailey are NBA projected lottery picks with Bailey making a case to be on an equal playing field with Duke’s Cooper Flagg as of late. With Harper and Bailey at Rutgers this season, there was a lot of hype for the program that hadn’t been seen in decades.

But after missing the NCAA Tournament last year, Pikiell and crew were hoping to return for a third time during his tenure and make quite a run.

But with lack of depth, injuries and illness to Harper, Rutgers struggled towards the end of out-of-conference play, leading to a rough start in the Big Ten. With 10 games remaining, Rutgers might need to go on a hot streak for good positioning in the Big Ten Tournament.

And it’ll have to continue without Harper.