Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Back procedure to sideline Michigan guard 6-8 weeks

Zak Irvin

Zak Irvin

AP

Hit hard by injuries a season ago, Michigan is already dealing with health issues before the 2015-16 season has even begun. Wednesday night the school announced junior guard Zak Irvin will be sidelined for six to eight weeks as a result of a back injury that requires surgery.

Should the recovery process take the full eight weeks, that would mean Irvin wouldn’t be cleared to go until just over a week before the Wolverines begin their 2015-16 regular season schedule. That being said, head coach John Beilein expects Irvin to make a full recovery from the procedure.

“We expect a 100 percent recovery for Zak after this procedure,” Beilein said in the release. “We will not rush his return; but given Zak’s work habits and determined attitude, we anticipate he will be back on the court and at full speed sometime near the beginning of our season.”

Irvin averaged 14.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest as a sophomore, shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from beyond the arc. Irvin was one of two Wolverines to play in all 32 games last season, with forward Kameron Chatman being the other.

Beilein’s Wolverines struggled with injuries throughout the year, with guards Derrick Walton Jr. and Caris LeVert missing significant amounts of time and Spike Albrecht playing through hip issues that would result in two surgeries this offseason. With the majority of their rotation back on campus, Michigan is expected to bounce back from a disappointing 2014-15 season.