McDaniel’s suspension over, can play in road games again

It will be too little too late as far as the season goes, but Michigan basketball point guard Dug McDaniel’s suspension is over.

McDaniel has been available for home games throughout the season, but hasn’t played in a game away from Crisler Center since a Jan. 7 loss at Penn State as he’s worked through academic issues.

Following U-M’s loss to Purdue on Sunday, coach Juwan Howard said McDaniel’s situation would be reassessed in the coming days. On Tuesday, the sophomore guard was cleared to play in road games, beginning Thursday at Rutgers (8:30 p.m., FS1).

“Dug is making good progress and has done what we’ve asked him to do to this point,” Howard said in a statement released Tuesday. “With that being said, he will be

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rejoining the team on the road. We have appreciated his efforts and those who have been supporting him.”

It’s hard to overstate how important McDaniel is to the team; he leads U-M in points (16.8), assists (4.7), minutes (35.8) per game.

Michigan went 0-6 during the six road games he missed, with losses to Maryland (64-57), Purdue (99-67), Michigan State (81-62), Nebraska (79-59), Illinois (97-68) and Northwestern (76-62), by an average of 20.2 points.

“We have very high standards within our program, culture and university,” Howard said via statement when the suspension was announced last month. “Serving as mentors, we need to set the standards and pathways for our young men to succeed. Beginning with our game at Maryland, Dug McDaniel will not travel to road games until further notice. Dug will dress for home games, however, when we are away from Ann Arbor, he will work towards meeting several academic goals he has set and needs to meet.

“While I am disappointed, this is not something we take lightly. This is an important step for Dug and his success as a student-athlete. Going forward we will not have further comment.”

U-M (8-20, 3-14 Big Ten) has lost 15 of its last 17 games and will need to win out against Rutgers, Ohio State and Nebraska to avoid finishing in last place in the Big Ten for the first time since 1967.

Senior day festivities

Four players will go through senior day ceremonies when Michigan returns home next Sunday to close out its regular season against Nebraska (noon, BTN).

Guards Nimari Burnett and Jaelin Llewellyn and forwards Jackson Selvala and Terrance Williams II will all go through the end-of-career rituals while Olivier Nkamhoua and Tray Jackson will not, even though both are graduate students.

Team blue managers Curt Alvesteffer, Ian Ochieng and Alex Schestag will also be honored.