This was always going to be a challenging week for the Michigan men’s basketball team. From the moment the Big Ten unveiled its schedule in September, many circled the Wolverines’ three-game stretch of Michigan State, Purdue and Illinois as a turning point.
Ultimately, it became a turning point. But for all the wrong reasons.
After returning from a late-December non-conference matchup at Central Florida, Michigan has been rocked by a COVID-19 outbreak. The Wolverines were without four players at Rutgers last week due to COVID protocols, while they eventually postponed matchups against the Spartans and Boilermakers. After losing more than six scholarship players due to COVID protocols, Michigan fell below the conference’s minimum roster standard.
It’s been two weeks since the Wolverines took the floor at full strength. That led to some funky practices and inconsistent planning, but Michigan coach Juwan Howard and his team stayed the course.
“We’ve had very unorthodox practices as of late,” Howard said Thursday. “We haven’t been able to have 10 players to practice in the last week or so, but we’ve always been able to figure (it) out. As far as those who are available to practice, what can we do to get them better and also to get them ready? But you know, this is the challenging time that we all are dealing with.”
Howard confirmed the Wolverines have at least seven available scholarship players and a healthy coach. Under the new Big Ten forfeiture policy, that means they’ll have to play on Friday night.
Now, Michigan is set to travel to Champaign for a Friday night contest against last season’s Big Ten Tournament champions. The program still hasn’t made a full recovery, but it’s moving in the right direction.
“We’ve had some improvement health-wise with some of our staff members,” Howard said. “Had one guy from the staff return, another one still out. A couple of players have also returned to practice, which was good to see. Always had some guys come out of quarantine. It was good to see their beautiful faces and the smiles on some guys’ faces. Today, we’re hopefully going to have a good practice and a healthy one, which is the most important thing at this moment. We’ll see, when we get ready to get on the bus, which guys will be available for tomorrow’s matchup versus Illinois.”
But, as the Wolverines learned last week, things can change quickly. Michigan didn’t fall below the Big Ten roster minimum for Saturday’s game against the Spartans until about 18 hours before tip-off.
On Friday morning, Howard and the Wolverines had every intention of playing the game. By the end of Friday night’s medical testing, though, it was clear they couldn’t.
“You never know how it can change tomorrow,” Howard said. “You put your head down, lay on the pillow, and before you lay on the pillow, say a nice beautiful prayer for everyone, which I love doing and I feel it’s the right thing out of my heart to do. Then when you wake up in the morning, you get the text from your trainer or call from your trainer, as far as what we have available and who’s ready to go.”
Though practices have been unconventional, a layoff could’ve mentally benefitted a struggling Michigan team. Poor 3-point shooting, subpar perimeter defense and slow defensive rotations have hampered the Wolverines all season, but a 10-day break offered a window of opportunity to diagnose and correct certain flaws.
Looking around the country, other programs have struggled with COVID-related layoffs. But with a return in sight, Howard has adopted a new attitude.
“Some programs have dealt with it, we’re not the first,” Howard said. “Unfortunately, when it’s you, you get a chance to see how challenging it really is. But yes, it’s frustrating when you don’t have all your guys. And when you do have all your players out there, we take it for granted. Until you experience a COVID situation and you have to go through the COVID protocols with guys being out, you just embrace the suck, roll up your sleeves and do your best.”
A win over the 25th-ranked Fighting Illini could help Michigan put its COVID issues in the rearview mirror. But more importantly, with a 1-2 Big Ten record, it could be exactly what the Wolverines need to spark their conference push.
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