What Boxes Does Isaiah Livers Need To Check Before Returning To The Court?
Michigan Wolverines basketball senior forward Isaiah Livers is out indefinitely with a stress injury to his right foot after re-aggravating the injury last Friday against Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
"He’s been playing well, functioning at a really high level, and then over the course of the year, just started to get a little bit of breakdown and/or an accumulative effect of small things happening," athletic trainer Alex Wong said on the Inside Michigan Basketball radio show with Brian Boesch and Terry Mills. "And then unfortunately he was just having enough discomfort with our entry here to Indianapolis … ultimately, we ended up not playing him anymore [against Maryland] and then investigating further."
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Livers said over the weekend that the injury began Dec. 31 in the first meeting of the season against the Terrapins and bothered him to a varying degree at different points throughout the season.
The 13-point-per-game scorer underwent a MRI Friday evening, with the conclusion being that Livers had a stress fracture, he told the media. That sparked the decision to shut Livers down for the foreseeable future.
"From head coach down, it is player health first and foremost," Wong said. "Of course it’s a tremendous loss for the team, even just in the short-term, but then more so just for him. Everyone just feels terrible that he isn’t able to play, at least as of now."
While his teammates are preparing for the Wolverines' NCAA Tournament opener Saturday, Livers is supporting them while rehabbing to get back on the court. He didn't rule out a return at some point this season should the Maize and Blue make a deep run, but there's plenty of boxes he needs to check before that can become a reality.
"With any injury, you just want to make sure that functional activity can be maintained," Wong explained. "So, can he even walk pain free? [That's] before we even fast forward to running and set shots, jump shots, shooting drills, etc. So it’s just getting that pain down, certainly getting him out of the walking boot.
"The NCAA has worked very diligently to create a mobile athletic training room in the athletic center, so there’s a number of resources there. Regardless of his return, we’ll work very hard to get him healthy just in general. We’ll employ all of the items that they have over there.
"It’s just a matter of a walk progression, to a jogging progression, to shooting, to planting, etc., a return to play. But it all starts with, can he walk pain-free, can we get him out of the boot? Just really follow his symptoms and allow his body to heal. Again, keeping in mind long-term health. Whenever that is, he’s got some great basketball ahead of him."
While it seems unlikely Livers returns in the next three weeks if Michigan is still alive, neither he nor Wong ruled it out, which can be seen as a positive.
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