‘He‘s prepared for the moment’: Princeton maturation leads Jaelin Llewellyn to Michigan

Jaelin Llewellyn’s collegiate debut still registers with Skye Ettin. 

Llewellyn committed to Princeton as a heralded four-star recruit. But a combination of injury and illness delayed his much-anticipated debut, sidelining his talents for the first seven games of his freshman season, back in 2018. 

When team doctors gave him the all-clear to play, the stage could not be brighter: the Tigers were set to travel to Madison Square Garden for a tri-state clash with St. John’s. 

And Llewellyn wasted little time shining under the lights, pouring in 17 points — the front end of a performance that would earn him Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors. One moment in particular captivated Ettin, a Princeton assistant coach. 

“He went baseline and pretty much dunked it on one of the guys,” Ettin told UM Hoops on Monday. “And you could see the liveliness from his expression, and to me that is kind of an encapsulation of who he is.