Dusty May met with the media Monday, under 24 hours removed from Michigan outlasting Michigan State, 90-80, and cutting down the nets to celebrate the program’s regular-season Big Ten title. Now, the Wolverines are entering what May is calling “the fourth lap” of their season.
Michigan’s head coach gave an update on sophomore guard LJ Cason’s season-ending injury, spoke on freshman guard Trey McKenney and senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr., and offered insight into the team’s preparations for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament as the coaching carousel heats up.
LJ CASON heading toward redshirt year
CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson reported during the broadcast that Cason would redshirt next season as he rehabilitates the ACL tear he sustained at Illinois. May discussed Cason’s recovery plans and why missing next season makes the most sense.
“He hasn’t had surgery yet, and I think I can’t imagine bringing him back in January after not playing for a year and a half,” May said.
Neither May nor Michigan knows when Cason’s surgery will occur, in part because they are trying to keep Cason with the team throughout the postseason.
“We want him to be a part of this stuff,” May said. “We don’t want him to miss the NCAA Tournament. We don’t want him to miss the Big Ten Tournament. So I think the longer we play, the longer his surgery will be. But no, we don’t have a date, and the medical people, sometimes they want to get all the swelling out. We lean on them. … When it comes to the medical side, I just lean on our elite support staff.”
As to the impact Cason’s injury has on this team next season, or even the season after that, May isn’t focused on that yet. He was asked about how the injury impacts roster building and said that’s not where he’s focused right now.
“Are we going to try to sign someone to replace (him)?” May said. “We don’t know, we haven’t started negotiations for next year. We don’t know who wants to stay, who wants to leave. This is the new college basketball, so if we’re sitting here trying to read everyone’s mind, we just feel like we’re not going to start negotiating with our players or returning players. We assume they want to come back because they’re in a great environment. But if they don’t, then we’ll deal with that. If you want those answers, you probably need to tap their agents’ phones right now. … LJ is going to be a big part of this program. We’re recruiting all the time for every class for every year, so I don’t know.
“We have nine games (left), hopefully,” May concluded with a chuckle.
That — at least, outwardly facing — is where Michigan’s mind is at. The Wolverines are focused on winning this season, with their remaining guards. Figuring out what the roster will look like sans-Cason will probably come shortly after Michigan’s NCAA Tournament is over.
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