Praying for a speedy recovery
Liked to hear that ahead of schedule news there.
It feels pretty trivial to focus on hoops when dealing with something this serious, but the timelines here are worth noting.
The release said:
Patel indicated that Howard is expected to fully recover in six to 12 weeks and could return to the program in four to six weeks.
The 4 to 6 weeks to “return to the program” would put him at October 14th – coincidentally when U-M is reportedly scheduled to host Edgecombe, Sutton and Moreno for visits.
Practice starts next week, so Howard is clearly going to be absent for a significant chunk of preseason practices.
Six weeks puts you around October 28th… A few days before the exhibition game on Nov. 3rd with the opener on the 7th.
12 weeks takes you to December 8th, which is missing a month of the season.
Michigan has obviously been through this before two years ago with Martelli stepping into an interim role, but it is a pretty significant shake up for the preseason, compared to if it had taken place 6 weeks ago.
Best wishes to Juwan during this recovery period. Happy that everything went well (and that it was caught).
This is also the reason that bringing in Martelli has been invaluable. The best thing Howard could have done when hired. Having an experienced former head guy to step in - especially with a young/transfer laden team will hopefully keep us on the right track.