Caris LeVert Shut Down For Season
Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog
While this news was beginning to feel inevitable, it is no less depressing: after missing 15 of the last 16 games with what's only been described as a lower leg injury, Caris LeVert has been shut down for the season, ending his college career. From the official release:
University of Michigan men's basketball head coach John Beilein announced today (Tuesday, March 1) senior co-captain Caris LeVert will sit out the remainder of the season to concentrate on his continued recovery after suffering a lower left leg injury at the end of December.
"After some prayer and talking it over with my family, Coach Beilein and the medical staff, we all feel it is best for me to concentrate on getting fully healthy," said LeVert. "There is still some discomfort that does not allow me to help this team the way I want."
"I am so thankful for what Coach Beilein, the assistants and the medical staff have done for me during my collegiate career and in particular while I have dealt with these injuries.
"U-M has provided me the chance to live my dream of playing college basketball and to earn a Michigan degree. There are really no words to express my gratitude for that as well as my love for all my teammates. I am so blessed to be part of this wonderful university and will forever represent the Maize and Blue."
"This has been a tough two months for Caris," said Beilein. "He has worked so hard to get back to this point, and Caris' long-term health is what is most important.
"Caris has been a pleasure to coach; he is a wonderful young man with a brilliant future. I am confident he will have a very successful professional career because his talent, attitude, quickness and versatility make every team better.
"He has always carried himself and handled these situations with such class and a level of maturity that is unmatched. This is not how he wanted to finish his career here; however, we know he can hold his head high for how he has represented this great university and our basketball program."
An unheralded recruit Beilein plucked from Ohio University, LeVert shed his redshirt to contribute to the 2013 Final Four squad and played an integral role in the 2014 Elite Eight team. After injuries cut short a disappointing junior year, LeVert began this season playing like a Wooden Award candidate, only for injury to strike again when he rolled his ankle in the waning moments of the Big Ten opener against Illinois. When LeVert briefly returned to the court against Purdue, he clearly wasn't close to 100%.
The program ran out of time to get LeVert healthy and incorporated back into the rotation while they fight for a tournament bid. While we won't see LeVert in a Michigan uniform again, he can now focus on getting back to 100% in time to convince the NBA that a lanky, athletic, sharpshooting wing is well worth the risk of a first-round pick.
Even though LeVert's college career ended far too soon, he left an indelible mark on the program. Here's hoping we see him fully healthy and reaching his prodigious potential in the NBA before too long.
Thank you Caris & best of luck wherever the road takes you from here.
I truly hope he's able to get back to full health and the injuries were flukes and not a sign of a future issue.
I'm also glad he's getting his degree. Even if/when he goes to the NBA, he will eventually need something to fall back on and a degree from UM will serve him well in life.
Best of luck Caris in all of your future endeavours.
GO BLUE!
Nice writeup Ace.
Thank you Caris. Seems like a model student-athlete and an outstanding representative of the University. We should all wish him the best in his future.
Go Blue!
I student taught in Pickerington back in 2007. The kids knew I was a Michigan fan so, on my final day, they presented me with a giant OSU shirt with all of their signatures. Somewhere, in a box full of education keepsakes and textbooks, I have Caris LeVert's 8th grade autograph.
We wish you a speedy recovery and a healthy career in whatever profession you choose.
Good luck, Caris.
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May he run across the floor, through the tunnel and across the US all the way to the NBA draft to shake Adam Silver's hand.
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Wish him well.
In hindisight LeVert should have redshirted him in 2012-2013 and his minutes gone to Vogrich.
I love Caris as much as the next guy (and Ace and MGoBlog, for that matter), but this isn't even close to being true: "he left an indelible mark on the program"
Sadly, there will be nothing by which to remember the Caris Lavert era but disappointment and frustration...not in him, per se...but I'd dele this era in a heartbeat for something more closely resembling winning. (Obviously attributing the indelibility of the prior era to pieces other than Caris.)
Is a good kid that got a really bad break. Could you not just leave the kind words alone?
This place is so damn touchy.
TNixon is right. There is nothing "indelible" about LeVert's Michigan career. He is a good player. He's a great guy. His unfortunate injury situation has led to two horribly frustrating basketball seasons right when this program needed him to help maintain momentum off of the deep tourney runs.
There's nothing personal about that. He is missed. This sucks.
But if Ace wants to write that "Caris LeVert is the best player to ever lace up gym shoes for the University of Michigan", guys like TNixon should be allowed to point out the overstatement and hyperbole.
The potential, the bad breaks, the good plays, the what might have beens. You don't have to be Glen Rice or Cassie Russell to leave an indelible mark; Caris will not be forgotten.
We're really getting liberal with the definition of "indelible mark"
Josh Asselin is "remembered".
Brent Pettway has "not been forgotten"
I wouldn't say either of them left an indelible mark on the program.
I agree. Great kid. Good player. Indelible? Eh. I really enjoyed watching him though. I hope he works on his ball handling a bit before he sees NBA action. I have always thought he dribbles too high and is ripe for steals almost anytime he has it on the perimeter.
Thanks for the back. Well put.
His loss was impactful to a team that needed a go-to guy to break some of these scoring droughts. But one of the definitions to indelible is "not able to be forgotten or removed". Lavell Blanchard had a better 4-year run as the go-to guy and he is easily forgotten.
I believe Caris will have a career like Jamal Crawford, another guard whose career at Michigan was much shorter than we'd like. Ten years from now, most people will know Caris as a lanky, sweet shooting NBA guard. And only alums will remember his time at Michigan.
Jamal Crawford played 17 games at Michigan. Caris played 103 and played in two elite eights and one final four. And so what if only alums will remember his time here? I'm an alum and his time here was 100% indelible.
Some Michigan fan you are if you're going to be able to forget this:
I remember lots of great shots. Different than saying a player made an indelible mark on a program, though.
Again...absolutely love Caris (the player and the man). But let's not get ahead of ourselves. His last two seasons...an indelible mark? Meh.
What about James Voskuil? The also played in a ton of games and in multiple final fours. James Voskuil won us the Final Four game against Cincinatti.
As tnixon16 inferred, a single moment can leave an indelible mark, but unfortunately there are not a lot of those moments during his four years here. I'm not trying to slam the kid, but due to injury, he was not able to leave a defining, indelible mark on the program. You're still talking about someone who averaged less than 13PPG in his only full season as a starter.
Just curious, but would you say Spike left an indelible mark on the program?
Spike wasn't Bill Buntin. But he was a part of the fabric of some very fine teams. His NC first half, his toughness, his pure elan in playing the game, isn't something I will forget. I can appreciate other views but I would say Spike (and Caris) left "indeilble" tracks.
Aside from that, i hope he finds his way back to UM next year and not (say) Bloomington.
Uh, no.
Yup, instead of getting two years of 'baby Durant,' we get two mediocre half seasons and two long injuries. His career feels a lot like McGary's--a whole lot of 'what could have been.'
I'd be lying if I said there weren't selfish reasons for wishing he was healthy, but it doubly sucks that another key Michigan player gets a season-ending injury when scouts would otherwise be watching. (Let's leave McGary's NCAA-nixed year out of it please; I'm referring the prior year where he hurt his back.)
Add to that Spike's retirement and I mean, damn, it's one thing to face facts and admit this team -- if it makes the tourney -- probably isn't getting past the second round. But that's yet another player that obviously wants to play.
If no one's willing to take a chance on an injured player, hopefully he can tear up the D-league and work his way into a rotation from there.
Really enjoyed watching him play. I hope he gets well and has a good NBA career.
By the way, didn't he also hurt his foot in the closing seconds of the game his junior year, also?
Yep, the home game against Northwestern last year.
Is a fake. He is going for 30 against Iowa.
This sucks, but I wish him luck in the NBA. Kid always carried himself with dignity at UM and played well when he was on the court; I just hope his leg injuries aren't chronic ones.
Hopefully this team can make a little run here so that he can at least watch from the sideline during the tournament.
Why does this feel exactly like Mitch McGary's career? Some good performances to tease us, and then one dang thing after another. Best of luck to him; he sure deserves it.
Thanks Caris for being a Wolverine. The best to you! GO BLUE!
I have a sneaky feeling he'll be just fine come time to showcase his skills for NBA. Go ahead and downvote. Just upvote the shit out of me when I'm right
As much as I love UM, the NBA's where the kid's gonna make his living. I have zero issues with him sitting out games while (unpaid) in college to make sure he's healthy for the NBA Draft.
Zero.
Issues.
As a Michigan fan, I would have issues with that. As a human being, I wouldn't.
It has to be scary to be in LeVert's shoes. Your dream is clear and very much within reach, and yet you're one bad moment away from never reaching it. It's easy for us to say that we'd get on the court, no matter how injured, because of our love of team, competitiveness, and desire to blow away the scouts. But if you're feeling as vulnerable as LeVert probably feels, I bet that calculation changes. (And that's if playing is even a possibility given his injury.)
To me, LeVert goes down as a likeable and very good, but never great, Michigan player who clearly outperformed expectations but was limited by injuries. I'll be cheering for him in the NBA.
Really? That is some weak shit. Every time a player goes out they could get hurt. So much for the team, the team, the team.
I agree. he doesn't have to even still be on the team, he could be in the NBA right now. If he doesn't want to sacrifice his body and career for a team that is playing like shit, I logically cannot blame him.
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be fine to "showcase his skills for the NBA"..............I'm not exactly sure what your point is but sounds like your calling him selfish when the reality is you need to look in the mirror to see who's the selfish one.
I'd bet almost every single kid who gets a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Michigan dreams of one day leaving college and getting paid to play basketball professionally. Isn't finishing school and getting a high paying job/career the goal for nearly every single college student in the United States?
If this bothers you maybe you should start following Ivy League hoops instead as those players biggest goals and dreams aren't tied up into a career of playing basketball professionally one day.
My point, I'm sure unpopular, is that he is saving himself for the NBA and not coming back for just that reason.
I know hyperbole is the lingua franca of any fan blog, but this is a stretch.
Was about to make the same comment. Caris was a good player, and we hope he does well post-Michigan. But his contribution was far from indelible.
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Not shocked, still a bummer. Thanks Caris for the efforts, may your pro career be long, healthy, and productive.
Wish him all the best in his future endeavours. Having either him or Spike in the line up regularly could have made the difference.
is a bummer. I pray for a full recovery and that the injury will not have too negative of an effect on a potential NBA career or worse.
Fuck. Loved watching Caris play. Best of luck.
I'm sorry, but this whole thing smells fishy!
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...i look forward to seeing him lighting up the nba.
This has to be top ten but my memory is not very good.
* 1984 Harbaugh injury (hello Chris Zurbrugg and Russell Rein)
* 2009 David Molk
others?
You don't remember Russel Bellomy playing against Nebraska?!
Playing without McGary, it's certainly arguable that Mitch's injury may have cost the team a National Championship.
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