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Dug McDaniel enters transfer portal after leading Michigan basketball in scoring

tony garcia, detroit free press
·2 min read
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The Michigan basketball exodus continues, and this time, it's the program's biggest name remaining.

Sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel has entered the transfer portal, a Michigan spokesman told the Free Press on Monday. This comes less than 24 hours after freshman guard George Washington III announced he was in the portal, and three days after the program announced Juwan Howard would not be returning in 2024-25.

This move has felt like an inevitability for months, even if Howard had kept his job. McDaniel led the 8-24 Wolverines with 16.3 points and 4.7 assists per game, however he got himself into trouble when he was academically suspended for the second half of the season. He was barred from road games until Feb. 29.

ANALYSIS: Michigan basketball had no choice but to let Juwan Howard go. Now comes the harder part.

Michigan head coach Juwan Howard talks guard Dug McDaniel (0) during the second half of the First Round of Big Ten tournament at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard talks guard Dug McDaniel (0) during the second half of the First Round of Big Ten tournament at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

The program announced as soon as the second semester began that McDaniel would not be eligible to travel with the team to road games while he tried to progress through his classwork.

U-M went 0-6 in those road games, and the suspension threw the playing rotation completely into whack for home games. It also asked far too much of recovering guard Jaelin Llewellyn, who was not ready for more than 30 minutes per night after returning from a torn ACL just more than one year prior. Michigan went 2-15 after the day McDaniel was suspended.

THE SEARCH: Michigan basketball head coach candidates: 4 names to know to replace Juwan Howard

Michigan players include guard Nimari Burnett (4), guard Dug McDaniel (0), forward Harrison Hochberg (31) and guard George Washington III (40) walk off the court after 66-57 loss to Penn State in the First Round of Big Ten tournament at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.
Michigan players include guard Nimari Burnett (4), guard Dug McDaniel (0), forward Harrison Hochberg (31) and guard George Washington III (40) walk off the court after 66-57 loss to Penn State in the First Round of Big Ten tournament at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

“Obviously (the season) didn’t go as I planned, as we planned,” McDaniel said last Wednesday after U-M's season-ending loss in the Big Ten Tournament; his first time speaking since his suspension. "“I just wasn’t handling my business, holding my end of the bargain...I mean it is what it is."

When asked about his future on that day, he said "I'll worry about that later."

[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Hail Yes!" your go-to Michigan Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dug McDaniel enters transfer portal after leading Michigan in scoring