Michigan basketball PG Jaelin Llewellyn gets medical waiver to return for 2023-24 season
Even when it is expected, good news is good news, and Michigan basketball got some this week.
The NCAA recently approved a medical hardship waiver for point guard Jaelin Llewellyn, team spokesman Tom Wywrot told the Free Press on Friday. It grants Llewellyn one more season of collegiate eligibility, which he apparently will use to return to Ann Arbor in 2023-24.
Llewellyn appeared in eight games in his first season in Juwan Howard's program, before he tore his ACL in early December against Kentucky at O2 Arena in London. He was sidelined the remainder of the season and never truly got his footing with his new club; he finished averaging just seven points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 30.9% shooting from the field.
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He had surgery to repair the knee in early January.
"I'm not really sure yet," Llewellyn said of his timeline to return, when he last spoke publicly in December. "I've said before, I'm taking things day by day because I've got a long road ahead of me, and I don't want to get too far ahead in the future."
U-M had limited guard depth in 2022-23 and it forced coach Juwan Howard to start freshman Dug McDaniel the rest of the season. After never playing more than 21 minutes in the first month, McDaniel played 32 minutes or more in 23 of the final 26 games.
While there's no way to know what would've happened to Michigan's season had Llewellyn remained healthy, the injury limited the team's roster in what was ultimately a disappointing season: 18-16 overall and a second-round exit in the NIT — just the second season in the past 13 without an NCAA tournament berth for the Wolverines.
"It’s very important for us as a group and as a family that we support a young man who is going to go through a difficult stretch," Howard said on Jan. 4, just hours after Llewellyn's surgery. "He wants to be out there on the floor, but unfortunately, this season got cut short.
"The road to recovery starts today. Knowing Jaelin, he’s as disciplined and as mature as it comes, so he’s going to do what’s right and what’s asked when it comes to his rehabilitation.”
The Wolverines appear to have an excess of depth in the backcourt next season, with McDaniel and Llewellyn both returning with experience in the system and an understanding how to run it. It will be the first time in four years Howard returns his starting point guard.
The team also added backcourt transfers in North Carolina combo guard Caleb Love (who has scored 1,476 career points) and Alabama wing Nimari Burnett (a former McDonald's All-American) and is bringing in four-star combo guard George Washington III.
Michigan has one roster spot available for the 2023-24 season.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball PG Jaelin Llewellyn can return in 2023-24 season
