Michigan starting point guard Jaelin Llewellyn will miss the remainder of the 2022-23 season with a torn ACL, the program announced Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Llewellyn suffered the left knee injury on Sunday in the Wolverines’ 73-69 loss to Kentucky.
- He joined Michigan as a graduate transfer this year from Princeton.
- Llewellyn averaged 7.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists through three games played this season.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Who steps up for Michigan?
Did Llewellyn have some struggles on both ends in his first month of adjusting to his role at Michigan? Yes. But was he damn-near indispensable? Close to it, maybe. U-M lacks backcourt depth and has no other experienced college point guard on the roster.
Dug McDaniel now becomes the lone pre-designated point guard available. But he’s a freshman with a speedometer at 100 and an odometer at 0. He’s played 117 minutes in eight games with 17 assists, 12 turnovers and made 14 of 41 shots. It’s difficult to envision coach Juwan Howard simply defaulting to McDaniel and making him the primary point. He’s plainly not ready to run the Wolverines’ ball-screen-heavy, read-reliant, pro-style offense.
That brings us to Kobe Bufkin. The sophomore plays off the ball, but will likely be required to slide over and split time at both guard spots, if not take the role over as primary point. There might be little other choice. Bufkin’s role changing should in turn open the door for other roles to increase. Duke transfer Joey Baker will probably see a spike in his 13.0 minutes per game, while deep reserve sophomore Isaiah Barnes might be called on more, as may Jace Howard. – Quinn
How Llewellyn’s injury impacts the Wolverines
But make no mistake, despite Llewellyn’s pedestrian numbers, he represents a significant loss. Hope remained inside the Michigan program that he was going to follow the course of previous transfer point guard Mike Smith and DeVante Jones and improve over the course of the season, eventually becoming the as-advertised impact player.
Michigan still has All-American candidate Hunter Dickinson as its centerpiece star, but the roster is looking awfully light in a Big Ten that’s looking even tougher than anticipated. The Wolverines will play their first league game of the season on Thursday at Minnesota. The Gophers won in Ann Arbor a year ago. – Quinn
What they’re saying
Howard said the program is “devastated” for Llewellyn.
“He worked so hard after joining us this summer and was making that next step in leading this team,” Howard said in a statement. “His maturity and work ethic has already made a mark on our program and culture. Knowing him, this setback will only serve as an opportunity to grow as a person and player, but more importantly, offer himself a chance to help this program in any way he can. I admire that.”
The Wolverines released a statement on Llewellyn’s behalf.
“Although this is not how I imagined my season here at Michigan would end, the support and love from everyone in the program will help me get through the rehab process,” Llewellyn said. “I’m looking forward to being my teammates’ biggest supporter for the rest of the season.”
(Photo: Mike Mulholland / Getty Images)
