Franz Wagner to Miss 4-6 Weeks, Johns in Boot
Michigan men's basketball announced this afternoon that prized freshman Franz Wagner will miss 4-6 weeks with a wrist injury that thankfully will not require surgery:
The University of Michigan David and Meredith Kaplan Men's Basketball Head Coach Juwan Howard announced today (Monday, Oct. 21) freshman guard Franz Wagner will miss four to six weeks after he was diagnosed with a non-surgical fracture to his right wrist. Wagner is expected to make a full recovery.
"While this is an unfortunate situation for Franz, we know he will make his return as soon as he is able," said Howard. "We have the finest medical staff and trainers at Michigan so we know he is in good hands."
That'll at least take Wagner out for the Gavitt Games matchup with Creighton on November 12th. How quickly he recovers within that 4-6 week window could have a major impact on Michigan's NCAA tournament resume; the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament—which will feature matchups against Iowa State, one of Alabama or UNC, and likely also one of Gonzaga/Seton Hall/Oregon—takes place during week five of Wagner's recovery. The Louisville game on December 3rd is early in week six.
This is awful timing for a freshman expected to start and be one of the team's top scorers from the jump. Instead of getting some tuneup games to get used to a new league, system, and role, he'll be thrown into the fire, especially with the Big Ten again putting a couple conference games in mid-December. Michigan also faces Oregon, possibly for a second time, on December 14th. It'd be really, really nice if Wagner could make it back for Atlantis.
Wagner isn't the only Wolverine battling injury, either. The Michigan Daily reported yesterday that they spotted Brandon Johns in a walking boot, and the team subsequently confirmed he's dealing with a sprained ankle. The team says the boot is "mainly used for Johns' comfort," but didn't give a timetable for a return. His absence is also far from ideal, as his emergence as a viable player at the four is a key to unlocking some of M's potential best lineups.
In fact, it's hard to fill out a non-awkward lineup without projecting either Adrien Nunez or Cole Bajema to start, which is by no means a given. Juwan Howard could try to go big with a starting five of Simpson-(Brooks or Nunez or Bajema)-Livers-Castleton-Teske, but that would leave the team thin at center. Their best hope may be that Nunez or Bajema provides enough shooting to start at the three, allowing Isaiah Livers to play more at the four while Eli Brooks and David DeJulius soak up minutes in the backcourt.
October 21st, 2019 at 4:34 PM ^
Ok universe........you can stop now.........we get it.
October 21st, 2019 at 4:37 PM ^
Yeah, I think people may need to brace for a rough start to the year.
October 21st, 2019 at 4:40 PM ^
Again: verdammt!
October 21st, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^
At this point, I don't know how Howard is kept around. He STILL hasn't won anything and now he's injuring our players?
October 21st, 2019 at 6:57 PM ^
This guy message boards
October 21st, 2019 at 4:44 PM ^
You can't see this but I am shaking my fist so hard at Angry Michigan Revenue Sport Hating god right now!!
October 21st, 2019 at 4:47 PM ^
Just need to get two of the signature non-con victories that hopefully ripen with age. We have a tough non-con schedule and going 0-6 against the marquee opponents would be rough and put us behind the 8-ball. 2-4 and we’ll be a bubble team. 3+ we’ll be cooking with gas. Should be interesting. Let’s hope for speedy recoveries.
October 21st, 2019 at 4:53 PM ^
Why does this news not surprise me? Is it because I’m a Michigan fan?
October 21st, 2019 at 4:59 PM ^
The curse of the program continues. Unreal
October 21st, 2019 at 5:03 PM ^
That doesn’t bode well. Instead, it bodes poorly. A negative boding development in deed.
October 22nd, 2019 at 12:26 PM ^
Yes, the bodality of this development is definitely skewing negative
October 21st, 2019 at 5:04 PM ^
Not acceptable injury god...what the fuck man?!
October 21st, 2019 at 5:08 PM ^
Well fuck...
October 21st, 2019 at 5:15 PM ^
I saw this update popup on my phone and my immediate thought was, I hate being a Michigan fan. It seems like most of my lifetime has been 98% bad news and 2% good news.
October 21st, 2019 at 7:25 PM ^
You get good news?
October 22nd, 2019 at 9:12 AM ^
That's what Rutgers is for.
October 21st, 2019 at 5:15 PM ^
Is the basketball team scrimmaging the football team?
October 21st, 2019 at 5:20 PM ^
BPONE, meet BBPONE.
October 21st, 2019 at 5:21 PM ^
Yeah, I have a feeling this is going to be a rough year. I don't think the team has enough talent to stay in the tournament hunt while dealing with the injuries. Last point, Izzo could win his second national championship in Howard's first year. Do not panic..
October 21st, 2019 at 6:02 PM ^
While that would be annoying, Izzo’s probably not far from retirement. This is his 25th year there, incredibly enough.
October 22nd, 2019 at 12:11 AM ^
Tom Brady totally remembers Izzo's National Championship. Because he was in college when it happened.
October 22nd, 2019 at 7:15 AM ^
Make Webber honorary captain for the MSU basketball game.
October 21st, 2019 at 5:25 PM ^
Not happy to see it, not ideal, but not that big of a deal. Franz is only out for a maximum of 6 weeks, mostly non-conference. It will give other guys a chance to step up...Brooks, DeJulius, Bajema, Nunez, Castleton (if they go big)...who knows, maybe one of them even produces at or above the level that we hoped for from Franz?? At worst it develops more depth for the more important part of the season.
October 21st, 2019 at 11:53 PM ^
Agreed. There’s a silver lining here. For one, it’s gonna force other guys to step up and become contributors - could help with depth big time. Two, guys often come back from these types of injuries with better strength, control, and coordination in the injured body part because of all the specialized training that comes with rehab and PT. Example, I tore my ACL in college and came back a significantly more explosive athlete because I gained flexibility and strength in muscles I didn’t even know I had.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:13 AM ^
Obviously these are tough injuries at a tough time, and I hope Johns and Wagner heal quickly and without complication. Call me crazy if you'd like, but I actually am glad to get extended looks at Nunez, Bajema and maybe even Jaron Faulds for a few minutes at the 5 (he had some decent post moves and a high block rate in the Ivy League in the 2017-18 season, and had to sit out the 2018-19 season due to transfer rules). They all might be a year away from being solid contributors, but with the early games, might as well see who can get buckets and who can force teams into difficult shots.
October 22nd, 2019 at 1:39 PM ^
Time for DeJulius and Nunez in particular to show what they can do. Without Franz, we need someone that can shoot to soak up minutes.
October 21st, 2019 at 5:29 PM ^
Best case scenario is this gives Cole some more minutes where he gains huge amounts of confidence (not saying he doesn’t have any) and becomes Caris 2.0.
October 21st, 2019 at 5:31 PM ^
Well, not great to hear, but it's a relief at least that it doesn't require surgery.
October 21st, 2019 at 5:42 PM ^
To whom do I send my angry email about the levels of unacceptable that this is????!!!!!
October 21st, 2019 at 5:47 PM ^
Send it to Braylon.
October 21st, 2019 at 6:52 PM ^
What the fuck.
We really need to stop worshiping BPONE.
October 21st, 2019 at 7:41 PM ^
The curse of the white road football jerseys continues...can we get rid of em.. nothing good has come since they started wearing them..all sports
October 22nd, 2019 at 9:46 AM ^
They've been wearing white jerseys on the road since 19-dickety-three. I'm guessing you meant pants. White pants aren't great, no. But, I mean, the basketball team did go to a Final Four since those things appeared. Bad things started happening to the football team before then.
White pants are wrong, but not a jinx.
October 21st, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!
Ok, shit. I'll go to church, temple, mosque anything! Just make it stop!
October 21st, 2019 at 7:58 PM ^
Oh NO! Franz broke his Hanz!
Sorry.
October 22nd, 2019 at 12:29 PM ^
And Brandon strained a tandon?
Even sorrier.
October 21st, 2019 at 8:03 PM ^
If both Wagner and Johns are out, the best 6 players would be Simpson-Brooks-DDJ-Livers-Castleton-Teske. I think they'd alternate big and small with:
Simpson-DDJ-Brooks-Livers-Teske
and
Simpson-Brooks/DDJ-Livers-Castleton-Teske
Sprinkle in some Nunez/Bajema, and we can get by. Not many teams can match 3 players as good and experienced as Simpson-Livers-Teske.
Stating the obvious, getting Wagner back, especially, will be key long term.
October 21st, 2019 at 10:44 PM ^
Teske is not playing 40 minutes
October 22nd, 2019 at 11:21 AM ^
And they cannot play those 3 guards at once.
October 21st, 2019 at 8:29 PM ^
I just can't believe it takes 12 words and the entire first sentence just to name Juwan Howard.
The University of Michigan David and Meredith Kaplan Men's Basketball Head Coach Juwan Howard
October 21st, 2019 at 8:33 PM ^
No offense to David and Meredith Kaplan but I can't quite understand the desire to put your name on a job title like that. Wouldn't you rather have almost anything else? Like, a plaque, or nothing. It's only ever used in press releases from the school.
I don't know. Maybe it's just me.
October 22nd, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
wait until he wins and race and has to thank all his sponsors before the interview is over.
wait, wrong sport, so far.
October 21st, 2019 at 8:35 PM ^
Makes sense. Our best get hurt preason in FB and BB.
October 21st, 2019 at 8:42 PM ^
@$&&%#?%#!#
October 21st, 2019 at 9:27 PM ^
Is it baseball season yet? Bring back Bakich and some good news.
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