Heading into this week’s Sweet 16 action, the availability of certain players could mean the difference between advancing and going home. Alabama and Michigan will face each other on Friday, and this game is no different.
Michigan head coach Dusty May and Alabama’s Nate Oats stand in the way of the other reaching the Elite Eight. The fate of their respective seasons hinges upon the health and availability of their players.
How Availability and Depth Issues Could Impact Michigan and Alabama
The road to the Sweet 16 looked difficult for both schools. Michigan lost in the Big Ten Tournament, while Mississippi sent Alabama home early in the SEC Tournament. Each team enters the game with question marks, ones that could ultimately tip the scales in its opponent’s favor.
Michigan guard Winters Grady walked onto campus in Ann Arbor as a highly touted incoming freshman. Grady, a reserve, played 9 games, averaging 2.9 points on 35% shooting. He served a bench role, playing 5.5 minutes per night.
A month ago, Grady took a medical redshirt with a lingering foot issue. While that may not seem like a profound loss, depth matters in the NCAA Tournament.
Likewise, L.J. Cason, Grady’s Michigan teammate, was a spark off the bench. Cason played 28 games, recording averages of 8.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. On February 27, in a game against Illinois, Cason tore his ACL.
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He waited to undergo surgery. As a result, he elected to redshirt next season and is targeting a return during the 2027-28 season.
“It allows me to cherish the moment,” Cason said. “Let me reminisce on all the things we did. Vegas, Illinois, the Big Ten Championship. It’s just what we’ve done so far. It definitely allows me to sit and think about how great this team can be. We’ve got more work to do.”
“I think I just wanted to come back myself,” he added. “[Rushing could lead to] coming back not even as good as I am before I left. My goal is to come back way better than I came back now, physically, mentally, and all the rest.”
While Michigan’s issues are health-related, Alabama will be missing one of its best players due to a recent arrest. A week ago, members of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, a joint effort between local, county, and state police, arrested star guard Aden Holloway on a felony drug charge.
The junior was found with 2.1 pounds of marijuana. In Alabama, the weight borders on a drug trafficking charge. Before the arrest, Holloway was the Crimson Tide’s second-leading scorer with 16.8 points per night.
To this point, Alabama hasn’t missed him, as its 22.5-point margin of victory would attest. However, playing Michigan lines up differently.
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The Wolverines’ starting frontcourt of Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson Jr. combine for a listed average height of 6-foot-11. Moreover, that translates into a team that ranks in the Top 25 in both rebounds per game (39.9) and blocks (6.0).
Holloway’s absence leaves the scoring burden up to leading scorer Labaron Philon and forward Aiden Sherrell. Can Alabama survive the loss of an integral piece of the offense?
Sweet 16 Schedule for Thursday and Friday
After several days without any NCAA Tournament games, the action resumes tonight at 7:10 p.m. ET. There are four games on tonight and four games on Friday, with all of them airing on CBS and TBS/truTV.
THURSDAY
- No. 11 Texas vs. No. 2 Purdue | 7:10 p.m. ET | CBS
- No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 4 Nebraska | 7:30 p.m. ET | TBS/truTV
- No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Arizona | 9:45 p.m. ET | CBS
- No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 2 Houston | 10:05 p.m. ET | TBS/truTV
FRIDAY
- No. 5 St. John’s vs. No. 1 Duke | 7:10 p.m. ET | CBS
- No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 1 Michigan | 7:35 p.m. ET | TBS/truTV
- No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 2 UConn | 9:45 p.m. ET | CBS
- No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 2 Iowa State | 10:10 p.m. ET | TBS/truTV
The NCAA Tournament averaged 9.8 million viewers through its first three days, the best start since CBS and TNT began showing all of the games together in 2011, according to Nielsen data. The primetime Thursday window hit 12.5 million, making it the most-watched first-round window in tournament history.
All eyes will be on Jefferson to see if he can return and give Iowa State their best shot at advancing to the Elite Eight, which gets underway on March 28 to March 29.
