Michigan Basketball ‘very confident’ in waiver for Jaelin Llewellyn

Michigan basketball has undergone a bunch of roster movement in the last couple of weeks but it sounds like one guy, Jaelin Llewellyn, will be sticking around. 

Jaelin Llewellyn recently announced that he wanted to return to Michigan basketball for the 2023-24 season.

The 6-foot-2 guard who transferred to the Wolverines from Princeton started eight games at point guard for Michigan basketball before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

If the waiver is granted and Llewellyn is approved for another season, it would mean that Michigan basketball would be at the scholarship limit and according to Josh Henschke of Rivals, the Wolveriners are “very confident” that it will be approved by the NCAA.

Jaelin Llewellyn would add quality depth to the backcourt

Some Michigan basketball fans might take this as bad news because they are worried about the roster numbers, but I couldn’t disagree more.

The coaching staff will figure out the numbers when it comes to more transfer additions. Matthew Cleveland is the new hot name, but Hunter Dickinson could also return and Michigan basketball has been in contact with numerous other big men.

One or two more additions wouldn’t be surprising at all and Llewellyn doesn’t have to be sacrificed in order to make it happen. For one, Michigan could use more guard help and Llewellyn will be a valuable guy to bring off the bench as a combo guard.

While he didn’t shoot the ball from 3-point range well last season (18 percent), it was a limited sample size (eight games) and he did average 2.8 assists per game. This team could use more playmaking and he’s averaged just under three assists for his career, as well as being a 31-percent career shooter from 3-point range and 71 from the free-throw line.

Having reliable guards matters. Guards that can pass, make free throws and handle the ball. Dug McDaniel and Kobe Bufkin were pretty much it a season ago and we saw how that worked out.

And if you think about the 80 minutes available every night between the one and the two, having a four-man rotation of McDaniel (point guard), Llewellyn (combo guard/point guard), Caleb Love (combo guard/shooting guard), and Nimari Burnett (combo guard/wing) is one you can feel good about assuming everyone is healthy.

Love, Llewellyn, and Burnett all need to shoot the ball better than they did a season ago, and you don’t know exactly how all the pieces will mesh, but Michigan needed more quality guards and it’s good the coaching staff realized that.

Frankly, if  Llewellyn’s waiver wasn’t approved, Michigan would need another guard. As good as I think Dug McDaniel will be next season, you need depth and Llewellyn can be an effective depth option next season.