Michigan men’s basketball begins its NCAA Tournament journey against the 16th-seeded Howard Bison. Ahead of the opening-round match-up, the Wolverines released their preliminary injury report detailing who won’t be available.
Key Players Ruled Out for Michigan
Freshman Winters Grady remains OUT with a lower-leg injury and is not expected to play against the Bison. The 6-foot-6 wing is averaging 2.9 points and 1.1 rebounds across 5.6 minutes per game in nine contests. He last played on Jan. 2 against USC and could seek a medical redshirt for the 2025-26 season.
Backup guard L.J. Cason also remains OUT. He will miss the rest of the season, and likely take a redshirt in 2026-27, as he recovers from an ACL tear. Cason averaged 8.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 steals in 18.6 minutes per game this season.
Lendeborg’s Ankle a Concern
Of particular note for Michigan is the health of Yaxel Lendeborg. The forward suffered a low-ankle sprain against Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament final but carries no injury designation for the NCAA Tournament.
“I feel okay,” Lendeborg said Wednesday. “I’m gonna wear these shoes with the high tops just in case something happens. I practiced yesterday. I was doing good moving forward, jumping, but the cutting bothered me a little bit. But I feel like when the game time comes and all the adrenaline starts rushing, I think I’ll be OK.”
Impact of Cason’s Absence
Since March 5, the date of Michigan’s first full game without Cason, the Wolverines rank 46th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. That’s a drop-off from their whole-season production (6th nationally in adj. offensive efficiency) and from the 28 games in which Cason played (4th).
“Obviously, L.J. was very important to our team for a number of reasons,” May said Sunday night on the Field of 68 podcast. “Very few teams can bring a guy off the bench that you don’t miss a beat, regardless of who he goes in for. He has a unique skill set. He has the ability to get anywhere he needs to at the ball and break down the defense, so you don’t have to play as segmented. And then defensively, he’s able to get into the ball, affect the game on both sides.
“Our second unit, they haven’t been as good since he’s went out. So this is an opportunity for them to pick up the slack. We’ve just got to get back to playing good ball. I don’t think it’s one thing.”
Additional Unavailable Players
In addition to Grady and Cason, Charlie May (injury), Ricky Liburd (redshirting) and Harrison Hochberg (redshirting) are not expected to play for Michigan.
All other players are presumed available.
Teams must submit initial reports to the NCAA by 9 p.m. (local competition venue time) the night before competition and provide any updates to the initial report by two hours prior to their scheduled tip time on game.