Michigan basketball's expected depth at point guard, may not be so deep after all.
Guard Caleb Love, who committed to transfer to the Wolverines after three seasons at North Carolina, was reportedly decommissioned Wednesday. According to Joe Tipton of On3.com, love is ranked No. 16 transfer available this off-season by 247 Sports,
Last season, Love averaged 16.7 points, 2.8 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per game for the Tar Heels. He averaged 18.8 points in six games leading North Carolina to the 2022 NCAA tournament title game. Love is a high-volume scorer, meaning he needs the ball often; He averaged 15.1 shots a game last season, but shot just 37.8% overall and just 29.9% on 3-pointers, despite taking 7.4 shots from beyond the arc per game.
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The Wolverines still had returning Jaylin Llewellyn and Doug McDaniel at point guard. Llewellyn, who had transferred from Princeton before last season, was injured in the eighth game of the season, tearing his ACL in a December 4 game against Kentucky in London. He averaged seven points and 2.8 assists during his short stint as a starter. After undergoing knee surgery, he received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA to return for the 2023–24 season.
Michigan is also set to add Nimari Burnett, a transfer from Alabama, as well as guard George Washington III, the Wolverines' remaining commitment from the Class of 2023, who was the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year last season.
Still, Llewellyn isn't at full strength just yet.
“Can't believe I'm going into my second year (at Michigan), I didn't think I'd be in this position, but I'm so grateful to have had another opportunity to play with these guys and in this program. ” , he told the Defend the Block podcast This week. “I've started getting back on the court in the last few weeks. Since the surgery I've been doing more and more athletic things for the last few months than just leg raises and stuff, but it's nice to move more.”
McDaniel, a true freshman the previous season, became a starter following an injury to Llewellyn. After a slow start to the season, his shooting clicked as he averaged 13.8 points, 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals in the Wolverines' final eight games, while shooting 43.3% from the outside.
Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia contributed to this report.
This article was originally published on the Detroit Free Press: Transfer Caleb Love pulled out of Michigan basketball: report