Tag: Jaelin Llewellyn

Michigan makes official statement regarding Dug McDaniel

A bad situation gets worse.

While Michigan’s football team is winning a national title, the basketball squad has been struggling amidst a 6-9 season that has the Wolverines sitting in the basement of the Big Ten. Tough.

To make matters worse, the team has suspended star player Dug McDaniels for the next six road games due to apparent academic issues. McDaniel will miss matchups with Maryland, No. 1 Purdue, Michigan State, Nebraska, No. 10 Illinois, and Northwestern.

This is a heavy blow for a team that relies on McDaniels, who leads the team in both points with 17.8 per game and assists with 5.1 per game.

David Kaplan, Meredith Kaplan, and Juwan Howard made a statement regarding the McDaniels suspensions which reads as follows:

“We have very high standards within our program, culture and university. Serving as mentors, we need to set the standards and pathways for our young men to succeed.
 “Beginning with our game at Maryland, Dug McDaniel will not travel to road games until further notice.
 “Dug will dress for home games, however, when we are away from Ann Arbor, he will work towards meeting several academic goals he has set and needs to meet.
 “While I am disappointed, this is not something we take lightly. This is an important step for Dug and his success as a student-athlete.
“Going forward we will not have further comment.”
Michigan will likely lean on backup point guard Jaelin Llewellyn to replace McDaniels in the lineup. Llewellyn, who transferred in from Princeton, has been in and out of the lineup this season with various injuries and has played in just five games to date. In his appearances, he averages 8.8 minutes, 2.2 points, 0.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists. Llewellyn’s best statistical season was in 2021-22 with Princeton when he averaged 15.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. Michigan will need him to step up if they expect to make a late run at a low March Madness seed.

BREAKING: Michigan basketball is down a starter for the remainder of the year

Bummer!

For the third straight season, Juwan Howard has brought in a point guard through the transfer portal to lead the Wolverines.

Two years ago Mike Smith led the charge, last season DeVante Jones was at the helm, and this season it was supposed to be Princeton transfer, Jaelin Llewellyn.

But after eight games wearing the maize and blue, his 2022-23 season has ended. The former Princeton guard went down on Sunday against Kentucky and wasn’t able to re-enter the game. The worst possible outcome happened for Michigan: Llewellyn suffered an ACL injury to his left knee.

Juwan Howard issued a statement on Wednesday declaring Llewellyn out for the year.

“We are devastated for Jaelin,” said Howard. “He worked so hard after joining us this summer and was making that next step in leading this team. His maturity and work ethic has already made a mark on our program and culture. Knowing him, this setback will only serve as an opportunity to grow as a person and player, but more importantly, offer himself a chance to help this program in any way he can. I admire that.”

In eight games of play this season, he was averaging seven points. 3.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.

Llewellyn issued a statement as well.

“Although this is not how I imagined my season here at Michigan would end, the support and love from everyone in the program will help me get through the rehab process,” said Llewellyn. “I’m looking forward to being my teammates’ biggest supporter for the rest of the season. Go Blue!”

Llewellyn will begin rehabilitation and prep immediately before his expected surgery sometime in early January.

After losing Franke Collins to Arizona State this past offseason, Michigan is very thin at point guard. Freshman Dug McDaniel is expected to take over as the starting point guard.

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Michigan basketball listed twice in most surprising transfer decisions

Neither is shocking to see on this list. #GoBlue

Michigan basketball had a rollercoaster of an offseason: lost Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate to the draft, Brandon Johns and Zeb Jackson transferred out, and Michigan gained Joey Baker from Duke and Youssef Khayat from overseas.

Two other major things happened to the Wolverines involving the transfer portal this offseason and both appeared on 247Sports latest article talking about the eight most surprising decisions.

The first was the acquisition of Jaelin Llewellyn from Princeton.

There were some major game-changing point guards in the transfer portal, and Jaelin Llewellyn was certainly one of those gems. The Princeton star had a lengthy list of suitors, but Llewellyn was looking for a spot where he could start and have a featured role. Clemson seemed to check all those boxes. Llewellyn had little competition for the starting point guard job, and he could play alongside do-everything forwards PJ Hall and Hunter Tyson. It was a big win for Clemson when Llewellyn hopped on board.

But that commitment was short-lived. Michigan coach Juwan Howard has had great success with mid-major guards in each of the last two years (Mike Smith, DeVante’ Jones), so when the Wolverines got involved, Llewellyn quickly decommitted from Clemson and flipped to Michigan. That could turn out to be a major domino because Michigan looks ready to compete for a Big Ten Championship while Clemson’s backcourt has major questions.

“It’s been a historically great program,” Llewellyn said, via The Michigan Insider. “They’re used to winning basketball games. I wanna get to the tournament as bad as anybody. This is a team that has experience getting there, and they needed some experience at the guard position as well. It definitely helps that Ann Arbor’s only four and a half hours from my hometown, so my parents and friends and family can come by and watch more games than my previous years at Princeton and Virginia in high school as well.”

Llewellyn was a three-year starter at Princeton and has never made it to the NCAA Tournament, which was a big factor into his decision to go to Michigan. He averaged 15.7 points, four rebounds, and 2.5 assists-per-game last year for the Tigers. What will help the Wolverines this upcoming season is his 3-point shooting: the senior guard shoots nearly 39% from deep.

Llewellyn, when he committed, was expected to play the 2-guard with the Wolverines, since they had Frankie Collins. Collins ended the 2021 campaign strong and showed flashes as to why he was highly touted coming out of high school, but things quickly changed for Juwan Howard once the former Tiger came on board.

Frankie Collins quickly entered his name into the transfer portal in a very shocking development. 247Sports had this in its top eight.

Things in the transfer portal can flip on a dime. Michigan learned that lesson. Llewellyn hopped on board April 29, and sophomore point guard Frankie Collins entered the transfer portal the very next day. He was a “free agent” for less than a week before landing with Bobby Hurleyand Arizona State. Collins looked poised for a monster role at Michigan after a strong close to his freshman season. His teammates were raving about the player he was going to be next season. But after Juwan Howard chose to bring in another guard, Collins quickly felt it was in his best interest to look for something else. Arizona State can provide a spot for Collins to potentially start and play a ton, so that makes a lot of sense. But Collins seemed very locked into Michigan until Llewellyn’s commitment.

“When the opportunity arises — and there were other guys along the way whose names pop up, because there are no longer secrets, right? But I do think people wonder,” Michigan assistant coach Phil Martelli said, via The Michigan Insider. “So his family would ask a question. Full transparency in this program, they got answers. And as it moved it forward with the young guy Jaelin coming in, it was, ‘Okay, there’s gonna be a hard conversation.’ We’re delighted for [Collins]. There is no closing the door and throwing darts. Nope. Nope. This isn’t for everybody, nor is everybody for us. That’s the way I would put it.”

What was supposed to be a very solid backcourt for Michigan for 2022, will now look entirely different. Not only will Llewellyn have to shift to point guard next season, but the Wolverines will be looking at either Kobe Bufkin or incoming freshman Jett Howard to step into the shooting guard role.

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Predicting the 2022-2023 Michigan basketball starting lineup

Michigan has the pieces to win the Big Ten next season.

Barring any late surprises, the Michigan basketball roster is set going into the 2022-2023 season now that the Wolverines landed Youssef Khayat, the Lebanese basketball sensation, on Sunday.

While the Wolverines lost some contributors from last year’s team: Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate to the NBA, Frankie Collins to Arizona State, and Brandon Johns to VCU, Michigan added a couple of key pieces this summer with the additions of Jaelin Llewellyn (Princeton) and Joey Baker (Duke) along with Khayat.

The Wolverines have a solid recruiting class coming in the fall with Juwan Howard’s son, Jett Howard, headlining the class. Since Moussa Diabate declared for the draft, incoming center Tarris Reed should see significant playing time, and point guard Dug McDaniel should see some backup play as well. The bigger question mark from the incoming freshmen will be how does new forward Gregg Glenn fit into this year’s rotation, or does he see a redshirt year?

With all that being said, we are going to do our best to predict what next year’s lineup is going to look like when Michigan takes the court for the first time.

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Transfer guard puts Clemson in top six

Clemson lands in the final six of a starting-caliber transfer guard.

Clemson basketball has dipped its toes into the transfer portal multiple times this offseason, and the program could be adding Wichita State transfer guard Dexter Dennis, who put the Tigers in his final six on Wednesday.

Along with Clemson, the 6-foot-5 guard has Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas State, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt as his potential new school. Dennis has seen plenty of action with four years of experience at Wichita State. In 27 games last season, he scored 8.4 points per game on 35.3% from the field, also grabbing five rebounds per game.

In 2019, Dennis was named to the AAC All-Freshman Team after scoring 8.4 points per game and shooting 40% from the 3-point line.

If Dennis were to join the Tigers, he would join a guard group consisting of Chase Hunter, Josh Beadle, Alex Hemenway and incoming freshman Dillon Hunter, brother of Chase. The Tigers were thought to have added Princeton transfer guard Jaelin Llewellyn, who committed to the Tigers in April, but he backed out and recently chose Michigan as his new school.

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Michigan basketball gets commitment from transfer guard

Huge news for #Michigan basketball! #GoBlue

All eyes had been on Texas Tech guard Terrance Shannon, who is in the NCAA transfer portal, but Michigan basketball also had eyes on another.

Princeton guard Jaelin Llewellyn was an All-Ivy first-team player averaging 15.7 points per game in his junior season before entering the NCAA transfer portal. He visited Ann Arbor over the past few days, and was set to make a decision soon after departing.

That decision has apparently been made.

Coming in at 6-foot-2, 185-pounds, and hailing originally from Mono, Ontario, Canada, Llewellyn had a slew of high-end offers, including from Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Florida, and Tennessee, but he opted for the Princeton Tigers. Turns out, he’ll play in the Power Five after all, as he’s reportedly committed to Michigan basketball.

Llewellyn is thought of as a combo guard, so he could fill the role left by Eli Brooks now that he’s departed. Considering the COVID year of 2020, he has two years of eligibility remaining.

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ACC transfer guard puts Tigers, Gamecocks in final two

Clemson could add a transfer to its roster in the coming days after an ACC guard put the Tigers in his top two.

Clemson and South Carolina have always competed to be the top dog in the Palmetto State. Now the rivalry has snuck its way into the transfer portal, with Boston College transfer guard Brevin Galloway putting the Tigers and Gamecocks in his final two.

Scoring 8.3 points per game on 30.8% from the field last season, the 6-foot-2 senior entered the portal on April 11. Suffering multiple injuries in his career, he has played in 29 combined games in the past two seasons.

Brother of former Clemson tight end Braden Galloway, Brevin Galloway already has a history with the Tigers, as he hit a game-winning 3-pointer against Clemson in Littlejohn Coliseum last year.

With Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn de-committing from the Tigers, Brevin Galloway could be a vital addition for Clemson head coach Brad Brownell, who lost guards Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes to the portal.

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Clemson lands three-star 2022 point guard

Clemson men’s basketball added a fourth, highly-touted recruit to its 2022 class on Wednesday.

In an offseason with plenty of turnover and unexpected twists, Clemson men’s basketball added a 2022 three-star recruit to its incoming freshman class on Wednesday.

According to Joe Tipton of On3, Dillon Hunter, brother of current Clemson guard Chase Hunter, has committed to Clemson. Out of Wichita, Kansas, Hunter is the No. 127 overall prospect, according to On3 2022 Consensus.

The 6-foot-3 guard chose the Tigers over five other schools, including Baylor, Auburn and Georgia. Dillon Hunter signed a letter of intent to Baylor in November but decommitted on April 18, just two days before the move to the Tigers.

Dillon Hunter’s commitment helps alleviate the hole left behind by former Clemson guards Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes, who both entered the transfer portal after last season. The Tigers were thought to have added Princeton transfer guard Jaelin Llewellyn a week ago, but Llewellyn announced his recruitment reopening on Tuesday.

With the addition of Dillon Hunter, Clemson now has four members of its 2022 recruiting class, which includes three-star forward RJ Godfrey and three-star guard Chauncey Gibson.

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Transfer point guard backs out of joining Clemson

Six days after Clemson added a first-team-all-Ivy League point guard, he has now reopened his recruitment.

Transfer Jaelin Llewellyn has reopened his recruitment six days after Clemson basketball officially announced the addition of the former Princeton point guard.

“I am still considering Clemson as my home for next year, but due to recent changes, my family and I have decided to reopen my recruitment in order to reconsider the best options,” Llewellyn said on Twitter.

As a first-team-all-Ivy League guard last season, Llewellyn averaged 15.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game while shooting nearly 45% from the field and 39% from three.

The announcement comes days after Clemson lost the second assistant coach this offseason in Kareem Richardson, who is moving to North Carolina State. The first assistant on the move was Antonio Reynolds Dean, who was with the Tigers for the past five years and left for Georiga on April 12.

With the loss of former Clemson guards Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes, Llewellyn reopening his recruitment adds salt to a wound the Tigers had started to heal.

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Recent Clemson commit reopens his recruitment

Last week, Clemson men’s basketball head coach Brad Brownell and his staff landed a commitment from Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn. However, Llewellyn announced via Twitter on Tuesday night that he has decided to reopen his recruitment. “Just …

Last week, Clemson men’s basketball head coach Brad Brownell and his staff landed a commitment from Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn.

However, Llewellyn announced via Twitter on Tuesday night that he has decided to reopen his recruitment.

“Just want to say thanks, and show appreciation to the guys that I have met on the team, as well as the coaches and staff at Clemson, as they were great hosts during my visit,” Llewellyn wrote in a Twitter post.

“I am still considering Clemson as my home for next year, but due to recent changes, my family and I have decided to reopen my recruitment in order to reconsider the best options.”

Llewellyn, who played three seasons at Princeton (2018-22), is a 6-2, 185-pound point guard with a 6-6 wingspan who earned first-team All-Ivy League honors last season. He finished fifth in the league in scoring with 15.7 points per game and finished eighth in the league in 3-point percentage (38.6). He posted seven 20-point games last season including a season-high 29 points in a win over Harvard on Feb. 25.

He finished his career at Princeton ranked T-13th in career made 3-pointers (136), 15th in threes made in a season (64, 2021-22) and T-27th in career points (1,064).

In back-to-back seasons, Llewellyn led Princeton in scoring and as a freshman became the first to average double figures in scoring (10.1 ppg) since 2016.

Coming out of high school, Llewellyn was rated a four-star recruit by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN and was a Top 100 recruit in his class according to ESPN.com. He was the No. 5 ranked Canadian player by North Pole Hoops and was named the top Canadian point guard by the site in May 2017.

–Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this story

—Photo for this article courtesy of (Rachel O’Driscoll/Getty Images)

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