Michigan was a banged-up team this past season, with Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton finishing the season on the bench due to injury and Spike Albrecht playing through issues with his right and left hips. Albrecht’s already undergone a procedure to correct issues with his right hip, undergoing surgery in mid-April. According to a report from MLive.com, Michigan head coach John Beilein confirmed earlier this week that there will be a second procedure to correct this issues in Albrecht’s left hip at some point next month.
Beilein didn’t give an exact timeframe as to when Albrecht will be back to full strength, but he did note that the rising senior guard should be ready to go by the time practices begin in mid-October. As for what will be done when Albrecht undergoes the second procedure:Albrecht said on April 17 that he was still considering a second surgery. That procedure would shave down a portion of the left hip bone, while it’s unknown if a fracture or torn labrum exists there as well.
“It’s one of those things where (a surgeon) can’t really tell until he goes in there with the camera,” Albrecht said then.
Ultimately how much time is required for recovery will come down to what the surgeon sees, as Albrecht noted in the quote above. While the procedures will impact the amount of time Albrecht can spend working on his game this summer, it’s more important for him to be at full strength when the season begins and the same can be said for LeVert and Walton as well.
Health issues impacted Michigan’s on-court growth, or lack thereof, in 2014-15 and given the talent due back in Ann Arbor this is a team that can contend in the Big Ten. But they’ll need to avoid the injury bug in order to do so.