Michigan PG Dug McDaniel Announced On Instagram That He's Been Suspended, But Bizarrely Only For The Next 6 Road Games
Michigan made a deal with the devil to have a great football team. To do so, the basketball team had to collapse into complete shitsville. There's no other way to put it: the Juwan Howard era has gone completely sideways. I'm looking at the rest of this team's schedule, and I don't know how many more games they will win all season. Things have gotten that bad.
One of the few bright spots that Michigan has had this year is sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel, who was thrust into the starting role last year following an injury and came along quite a bit. He has the makings of a really good Big Ten point guard. Sadly, we won't be able to see him for a chunk of the Big Ten season because he's been suspended six road games due to academic issues.
You know it would be cool? If this basketball program could do something normal. It has become an endless circus and not the good kind of circus, like what the football program has become. It is nothing more than a headache machine at this point. There was an easy solution to this. Suspend Dug McDaniel for six games. Allow him to get his grades up.
Juwan Howard released a statement saying that they take the stuff seriously. I respect him for doing that. Let the guy sit for six games and then bring him back. I understand the principle behind suspending him just for the road games. It allows him to stay on campus and hopefully hit the books, but it makes what is already an obstacle for your team an even bigger distraction. McDaniel's suspension won't officially be up until February 22. At that point, the season will almost be over. I guess saying that is a little bit redundant. Anyone who has watched Michigan basketball this year knows the season is over, but you get my point.
Say what you will about the football program. I'll say a lot. I'll say they're national champions, but I won't rub it in. OK, yes, I will. Anyway, at the very least, when there is an issue to deal with, they release some kind of statement. They keep things pretty close to their chest, but they competently handle things. The days of Jim Harbaugh angrily tweeting things about opposing coaches are long gone.
I bring this up because it is irresponsible that Dug McDaniel had to be the one to announce this himself. I don't care if he asked to be the guy to make the announcement. It's a dumb look for the program. You know that the kid is already hurting because he can't help his team for the next six games. Do what a responsible program would do and release a public statement instead of having the player confirm his suspension on Instagram.
I'm very confident that Michigan will have a new basketball coach next year. I think this will only get worse before it gets better, but with each week, it seems like Michigan basketball is in the news for something bizarre. The only reason to pay attention to this program right now, sadly, is to see how far they're going to fall. I'm worried about how bad this is going to get. I wish McDaniel the best, and I have no personal issues with Juwan Howard, but things are really falling apart right now. It's ugly. Thank God for football.
