Juwan Howard updates injury statuses for two key Michigan players

Michigan Wolverines basketball beat Ohio State Monday afternoon, 73-65 at Crisler Center, by using six players to fill 191 of the 200 total minutes played. The rotation has been short all season but stressed even more lately, with graduate forward Tray Jackson out of the lineup, graduate guard Jaelin Llewellyn limited and sophomore guard Dug McDaniel suspended indefinitely for road games due to an academic issue.

Jackson has missed the last two contests — a road loss at Maryland (64-57) and the aforementioned home victory over the Buckeyes. He averages 16.6 minutes per game off the bench, contributing 5.5 points and 2.8 rebounds.

“Tray has been suffering an injury that is very delicate, and the injury I’m speaking of is his nose,” Howard said Wednesday ahead of Michigan’s Thursday night tilt against No. 14 Illinois. “He has a small fracture on his nose, and the possibility of surgery, I’m hearing, is on the table.

“Also, he’s dealing with a concussion. That happened in the Penn State game — both injuries. I expect for him not to play tomorrow.”

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Llewellyn, meanwhile, has been recovering from a torn ACL suffered in December 2022, easing his way back in after being cleared at the beginning of the season. The Michigan guard played in five games but no more than 16 minutes until the Wolverines went on the road without McDaniel for the first time, when he logged 33 minutes in his first start of the season. He put up 9 points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field with 4 rebounds and 3 assists to 3 turnovers, before playing only one minute in the game against Ohio State.

Howard is making sure Llewellyn will be good to go when Michigan needs him — likely the next time it goes on the road, which will come next Tuesday (Jan. 23) at Purdue.

“We’re monitoring his health, as well,” the Michigan coach said. “I want to be very respectful of the injury that he’s been dealing with from last season. With the minutes that he experienced in the Maryland game — I thought they were great minutes — he hadn’t played that many minutes in a very, very long time. But last game, wanted to be respectful of that knee, and that knee is something that we do not want to cause any flare ups [to], where it can set him back, because we need Jaelin. We need a healthy Jaelin.”

Having not played on the road at Maryland the game before, McDaniel saw 39 of 40 minutes against the Buckeyes. The Michigan guard put up 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field with 4 assists and 3 rebounds to 3 turnovers.

In a statement announcing his road-game suspension, McDaniel mentioned being out the next six outings away from Crisler Center. However, Howard’s statement did not reveal a date that McDaniel would return. The Michigan coach provided some clarity Monday after the victory over Ohio State.

“Like we said before, this is road games where he will not be able to attend. With that, we will see how the progression is with him academically,” said Howard. “We’ll see improvement and we’ll review it back in the middle to end of February. From there, we’ll see what’s next.”

Asked if McDaniel’s suspension could be shorter or longer than six games, Howard replied, “That’s exactly what I just said.”

McDaniel leads Michigan in minutes (36.3), points (17.6) and assists (5) per game. He’s shooting 47.3 percent on twos and 38.9 percent on 95 three-point attempts for the season.

When asked Wednesday if he’d like to see Michigan’s rotation expand, Howard said that the Wolverines will need every player, even proceeding to mention walk-ons as those who will see time in the future.

The Wolverines and Fighting Illini will tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET Thursday in Ann Arbor. Fox Sports 1 will carry the broadcast. Attending fans have been asked to wear white for Michigan’s first-ever ‘white-out’ game.