Dug McDaniel announces six-game road suspension from Michigan basketball
The Michigan Wolverines will be without sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel for the next six road games, according to his Instagram account. He says that he will be available for home games.
The reason for his suspension is an academic issue, and he seems to have no interest in addressing it, per his announcement. Rumors had been swirling on social media for a few weeks about some sort of looming issue, but this was the first official word of any sort of absence from the team.
“Will be serving a 6 away game suspension starting tomorrow [at Maryland],” McDaniel posted on his Instagram story. I’m active for every home game [though]. Please don’t DM me or ask me about it just respect it.
“Will be back on the road next month til then me [expletive] gon hold it down. See yall at home.”
Head coach Juwan Howard released a statement saying:
“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.”
McDaniel will miss road games at Maryland, Purdue, Michigan State, Nebraska, Illinois and Northwestern. He is averaging 17.8 points, 5.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game this season while starting all 15 contests for the Wolverines. He leads the team in points, minutes, assists, made threes and steals per game.
This is a major blow to a Michigan program that is already in a tailspin. The Wolverines are 6-9 on the season after a 3-0 start to the year. There has been no shortage of drama this year, whether it be head coach Juwan Howard’s confrontation with long-time assistant Jon Sanderson, questions about the culture and future and a mounting slate of losses as the program seems to be heading into a dark place.
McDaniel played in 34 games last season with 26 starts and moved into the starting lineup after Jaelin Llewellyn tore his ACL in December 2022. Presumably, Llewellyn will take over his spot in the starting lineup with Nimari Burnett playing more point guard. It could also mean more playing time for freshman guard George Washington III.
Michigan plays Maryland tomorrow on the road in a game set for a game set for 7 p.m. ET.
