What will L.J. Cason's role be for Michigan basketball? Here's the latest

Michigan Wolverines basketball has all sorts of proven commodities on the 2025-26 roster, both in the form of returning players or transfers who have produced elsewhere. But there are also some unknowns — and one of them is sophomore guard L.J. Cason.

What kind of jump will Cason make, and what role will he play on a deep team?

The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder went right back to work after his rollercoaster of a freshman season ended with a Sweet 16 loss to Auburn. Months later, he earned a bid to Team USA training camp ahead of the FIBA U19 World Cup, but didn’t score a roster spot.

“He went to the camp, didn’t make the team and had a chip on his shoulder,” Michigan assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen said. “But he learned so much from not making the team and the guys that made the team, how they approached the game. And he brought that same approach coming from USA.”

The Lakeland, Fla., native averaged 4.3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1 assist in 11.8 minutes per game with 30 appearances off the bench last season. He fell out of the rotation for a stretch but was a huge reason why the Wolverines won the Big Ten Tournament and made a run to the second weekend of the Big Dance, playing his best basketball at the right time.

Cason put up 8 points in the Big Ten Tournament championship game against Wisconsin, a low-scoring affair, and averaged 7.3 points per contest over three NCAA Tournament clashes, with 11 against Texas A&M. He also improved defensively and made plays for others, dishing 6 assists in his final five outings.

Not likely to be a starter, Cason is tasked with carving out a role on Michigan’s star-studded 2025-26 team. By all accounts, his will be significant, but it’s not clear exactly how it’ll be defined. Cason can play backup point guard when junior Elliot Cadeau is on the bench and also play alongside him, like he did in Tuesday’s practice that The Wolverine was in attendance for.

“We’re trying to figure that out,” Michigan head coach Dusty May said of where Cason fits. “And L.J. knows his long-term potential at the highest levels of basketball is playing the point, so he’s going to continue to work on being a better point guard.

“But he’s dynamic, and I think last year he showed us at the end of the year that when you put the ball in his hands and let him go, he creates some opportunities for himself and his teammates.

“There’s a fine line of evolving and developing into something that can help you long term but also making sure that you’re doing what the team needs that moment or that day.

“He’s a dynamic guard. He’s really improved defensively. His body has changed. He looks like he’s in the best shape of his life. He’s communicating better. I could go on and on.

“I think there are going to be nights when we need L.J. to come in and facilitate, and I think there are going to be other nights when we’re going to say, hey, L.J., man, go do what you do and make some stuff happen.”

Cason has had a big offseason, along with Michigan’s other returning scholarship players, graduate guard Nimari Burnett, graduate forward Will Tschetter and senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr.

May said that there haven’t been many massive surprises among Michigan’s players, because the expectations are so high. But the returning players have been making big strides.

“We had high expectations of everyone on our roster,” May explained. “Obviously, some of them might be delayed expectations. But I can’t think of one guy that I could sit here and say, man, he’s been a lot better than we thought, because we had pretty high expectations of all of the guys, especially the portal guys.

“But I will say our returners have improved drastically — all four of the guys that were in the rotation last year are much better basketball players.

“Roddy Gayle the last two weeks has probably had as good of a two-week period as anyone in our program.

“Nimari Burnett — you guys know how I feel about Nimari, his level of consistency, his routine, his mentorship to the young guys … he just brings so much to the table.

“And Will Tschetter is becoming a real shooter — someone that can shoot it on the move, get it off quick and not just be a spot-up guy, and he’s able to defend the ball.

“L.J. Cason tweaked his ankle a week or two ago. Prior to that, he was playing at a significantly higher level than he played at last season. So, I think probably the four returners have been the biggest, most pleasant surprise, I would say.”

The headliners on the Michigan roster are the newcomers, led by graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg. But don’t forget about the ones like Cason, who’s back with a lot to prove.