Is Michigan Basketball Ready? + Exclusive Interview with LJ Cason. Go Blue Hoops Ep 50

[Hail Media Group presents Go Blue Hoops, where Michigan basketball’s past, present, and future all come together in one show. Hosted by former Wolverine great, 10-year NBA veteran, and longtime ESPN and NBC college basketball analyst Tim McCormick. Each episode goes beyond the box scores, from championship memories and recruiting stories to sharp breakdowns of the season ahead. Insight, legacy, Michigan basketball. This is Go Blue Hoops.

Hey everybody, welcome to the Go Blue Hoops podcast and this is a special episode because we are celebrating our silver anniversary kind of 50 straight weeks of the Go Blue Hoops podcast and I am I’m very proud of that and I think a lot of people like it because they know that we’re the only ones that are putting out quality Michigan basketball content every single week with no breaks. And I think that’s pretty impressive. And so, thanks to all of you for helping us get off to a good start. 28 days until Michigan starts their fall basketball practice, and I cannot wait. you’re probably saying, “What in the world are you going to talk about today? The Europe trip is done.” Yeah, we know that Brandon McCoy is going to have his ACL repaired. Feel horrible about that.

He still has a massively bright future. The fact that he’s going to come out of this stronger, he’s going to come out of it a better shooter, he’s not going to lose any of his athleticism, and one year from now, we’ll be talking about him being in Michigan’s starting lineup. I’m very confident about that. Michigan still has plenty of talent available, and I’m going to go through some of that today. nothing new to report on Roddy Gayle and Kenny Noland. The fact that the courts are going to be addressing Rod’s case in 10 days or so, I think that’s going to go very well for Michigan. also, this is pretty cool.

L.J. Cason, we all know his story, emerging star. A lot of people around college basketball said that last year before the Illinois injury that he was the best backup point guard in all of college basketball suffers an ACL. Well, guess what? He is going to be the guest on our Michigan man interview.

And I so appreciate the fact that, you know, he transferred from Michigan. So, it’ be really easy for him to keep Michigan in the rearview mirror and just keep moving forward and not talk about it. but he’s coming on as our guest and I think he will be a fascinating interview for you to hear. So, here’s what I was thinking about talking about today. I’ve done a lot of thinking about Brandon McCoy and with his loss, who are going to be the top five scorers for Michigan basketball this year? So, I thought I’d go through the top five and give you my opinions and see what you think.

Okay, let’s start with number one. Michigan’s top scorer will be sophomore Trey McKenney. A major jump from singledigit scoring last year to a go-to guy. can he become somebody that takes over games? Give me the ball. Get out of the way.

I’m going to score. he was a great support player as a freshman. and this year I want him hunting for shots. Can he improve his game as a primary creator? in Europe he averaged 25 points on 54% shooting. I think that is really good. Now the big question that I want to see is when you’re living life at the top of an opponent’s scouting report and everything that they do is to take you out. That is a big challenge. last year he got a lot of open shots from Yaxel and Morez and Aday and Elliot and then he was shooting open shots.

I totally expect that he is going to be a dominant scorer. Does he have a chance to lead the Big Ten in scoring? I think Michigan will probably be too balanced offensively for that to happen. But I look for a breakout year from Trey McKenney. What do I think? 17 points per game.

That’s doubling his average almost. He was 9.9 last year and I think he is going to have a tremendous scoring season for Michigan. Number two is Elliot Cadeau. He’ll be the number two scorer for Michigan. I believe that he’s got all American potential.

Can he have a Trey Burke kind of year? I think he can be the best pick and roll point guard in all of college basketball. A couple things he needs to do is avoid foul trouble. I’d love to see him get to the first TV timeout with zero fouls. That way, he can be more aggressive.

He’s got to avoid those bad ones where he just goes after a steal or runs into somebody on pick and roll coverage. I also want to see that he can finish at the rim. a little bit better. It was a struggle at times and that would be a big upgrade. I also think that he and Jeremy Fears from Michigan State. both are going to be at the top of Big Ten assist. I think that’d be a big goal for Elliot Cadeau to lead the conference in assist numbers. my expectation for Elliot Cadeau is that he is going to average 15 points per game as the number two score for Michigan.

That number could easily be higher, but he’s such a good passer. He’s so unselfish. I think 15 is realistic. At number three, I have Moustapha Thiam at 7 foot2. super athletic. I expect an offensive jump very similar to a Daim Mara last year. sometimes a guy’s numbers don’t look that impressive because they’re playing with selfish guards.

They’re not a big part of the offense. I think that Moustapha Thiam is going to be very aggressive on offense. Before he got hurt in Europe, he got off to a really fast start in the game. I also look at the fact that at Cincinnati, Moustapha Thiam was good. He was really good.

I think he loves three-point shooting and mid-range, I want to see him go inside, bury his head under the rim, demand the ball, and it’s going to create a lot of space for the perimeter guys. I also look at Moustapha Thiaman and feel like he will lead the Big Ten in lob dunks, in the screen game. Elliot Cadeau is gonna make his life so easy. He’ll get to the rim, throw that lob. a couple of other observation. I want to see how Mustafa he actually told me, call him Moose.

I had never heard that before. can Moose survive and thrive in a lightning fast pace? he’s he’s a good runner. Can he avoid silly fouls when he is covering opponents? What they’re going to do with him is pull him out on the perimeter and see if he can play pick and roll basketball. I think he moves really well and the practices that I’ve seen, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. Mustafa will average 13 points per game as Michigan’s number three score.

All right, next up, who is going to be the number four scorer for Michigan? It’s going to be Tennessee transfer J.P. Estrella. Last year, get this, he averaged 10 points per game in only 18 minutes. Also, Rick Barnes ran this double box low post game.

It’s kind of archaic. It does not feature the big guys very often. The guards did not pass the ball inside. I think both of those numbers, minutes per game and points per game, will both soar. When I watch J.P.

Estrella, I would love to see him play a lot like Morez Johnson did last year. Outwork your opponent, out tough them, outrun them in transition. I think that the J.P. Estrella has a chance to be a great leader on this team. He’s very vocal.

He could also lead the Big Ten in offensive rebounds this year. That would be a big time goal for him. You will love his speed in the transition game. And as the number four scorer on Michigan’s team, I think he’s going to be really opportunistic. there’s going to be a lot of drives and dump offs. He’s going to get a chance to get those offensive rebounds and I expect him to average 12 points per game and maybe up to seven rebounds per game. so that’s pretty impressive when your four and your five are going to combine for close to 25 points and 15 rebounds.

The number five score, this is where it gets really tough because Brandon McCoy was number five on my list before. maybe could have even gone a little bit higher. His loss is something that we all feel bad about, but long term, I think he’s going to benefit. He’s going to get stronger. It’s not going to hurt his athleticism at all. so if Brandon McCoy is not gonna be there, I would pick Roddy Gayle, but Roddy Gayle’s not on the team right now. Jaylen Reed is hurt.

So my choice for the number five scorer on Michigan this year is Ricky Liburd and his game is going to explode. I love his approach. He’s a worker. He’s tough. He’s a two-way player. he has no game experience.

So that’s one thing that concerns me a little bit. He redshirted last year. I saw him at practice five or six times and he was relentless. so what does Ricky Liburd offer that maybe I would choose him as the number five score? Well, he’s got great size as a guard, 6’4, 6’5, super athletic. the small forward position is an area of need for Mike Boynton and I like his defense. he’s more of a traditional three that will fit in really well. and you might say, but there’s other options that you’re ignoring. Joseph Hartman showed a lot of potential in Europe.

Oscar Goodman is a gamecher from a physicality and toughness standpoint. And a lot of people love Quinn Costello’s three-point shooting. I do, too. but none of those players is a natural fit at the small forward position. So, the reason I pick Ricky Liburd is because he’s a natural fit at the small forward position. Michigan is going to need shooting at the three to space the court.

Ricky Liburd has paid his dues. He redshirted last year, but was a great practice player. Now, he missed the European trip with a small injury to his hip. he told me he feels great and he’s going to be 100% in 28 days when they start their first official fall practice. And that is why I’ve got him averaging eight points per game this year as the number five scorer on the team. if Kenny Noland and Roddy Gayle are eligible, then maybe things change, but right now I like those five. last year Michigan’s national championship team averaged 87 points per game that was number one in the Big Ten. That was top 10 in all of college basketball. four players from last year’s team, Yaxel, Morez, Aday, and Elliot all average double figure scoring.

I find it hard to imagine that this year’s team will average 87, but they’ve got five guys in that starting lineup. Maybe that will lead you to a lot of victories in the Big Ten. Hey Michigan fans, we will be right back. But first, a word from our sponsor. For generations, Knight’s Steakhouse has been an Ann Arbor tradition.

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Hey, welcome back everybody and I’m so excited to have L.J. Cason as our guest today and it’s it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m a big fan of yours and I’m I’m anxious to catch up and find out how you’re feeling. Welcome to the podcast, LJ. How are you doing?

I’m doing good. feeling great, man. Excited to be on the show. How’s the rehab going? It’s been great. today u I’m currently 5 months post-operation. So, I’ve been doing a lot of side to side movement, a lot of running on court, turning while running as well.

So, just getting back to the basics, you know, you had the chance to live a dream and be a national champ and a Big Ten champ. When you look back at your time at Michigan, what’s the memory that jumps out at you the most? I think definitely holding that trophy at the end of the season. Oh, I like the fact that I was one of the team on the team or one of the last man standing. I think that champ that championship it was a special it was a special team.

I don’t think my dog. Watch out, bro. It’s okay. Oh, what kind of dog is What kind of dog is it? toy poodle. Good for you.

I thought you might have a Pitbull or Rottweiler. Nah. but yeah, I say definitely that the championship it just it was special and that’s something that’s going to be there for the rest of our lives. I’m going to come back every 5 years to Michigan to have that reunion with my brothers. So I look at the parade and then hanging the banner and then also you had the cutting down the nets and all the confetti. Which of those three was most impactful?

I’ll say definitely hanging the banner. just be able to go back in Crisler and just see that banner hung every single time. I think that’s just very special. A lot of people don’t hang that many banners. LJ, when you decided to leave Michigan to play for Jay Lucas at Miami, I was disappointed because I am such a big fan of your game, but it potentially made sense on a lot of levels. you walked away with a national championship. You were a Big Ten champion.

Dusty May was the guy that recruited you to FAU and then to Michigan. And then you’re also from Southern Florida. So, which of those reasons kind of made it most obvious that you needed to leave? I say many of those reasons. I think Dusty was a big part of it. he was he’s the reason why I was at Michigan.

I love Michigan. I didn’t know anything about Michigan till I got there, but he gave me that chance to u be at a great institution as Michigan is and him leaving was just a huge factor for me to come to Miami Hurricanes. Yeah. When he left, did he give you a call? Did you have a one-on-one conversation? yeah. yeah.

He hit me up after it just told me that I had a lot of tough options. I had a tough decision to make. he gave me many options that I could choose from. and this is just one of the options that I chose that I thought was best for me at the moment. All right. So let’s go back to February 27th. a lot of hype around your game at that point. A lot of people were saying you’re the best backup point guard in the country.

You’re scoring, you’re shooting, three-point percentage 40%. And then you hurt your knee. take us back. What was that experience like? And did you know that you tore your ACL right away? I mean that experience was horrible. me finding out that I tore my ACL.

I think at that moment in time and where my game was heading it was definitely tough. I wonder why or why then but eventually I came back to earth. I know God does everything for a reason. So I stopped asking that question why this why that and I just got back to work. there’s nothing I can really do. I couldn’t change the situation.

I hate that my situation was that outcome, but it was hard. It was definitely hard. Yeah. What was the what was the experience like to go from a key six man on the best team in the country to on the sidelines? Did you feel isolation or did the guys do a good job keeping you in?

I’ll say I say it’s not about the guys keeping me in. I think it was more so me keeping myself in. I think if I think if I was in my own head, I could have isolated myself from the team because I think we were so bonded and so connected that they wouldn’t leave me. Only way I can would be separated is if I leave if I left them. And I think I took a big how can I say this?

I really made sure I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to me and I wanted to give the guys all that like I can give them even though I wasn’t u playing and for that was all I had was a voice for them for the boys. So I tried to really point to them that way and just give them as much as I can. Did you immediately switch to a rehab mode or did you give yourself some time to be a little bit angry or frustrated or disappointed? I mean, still to be honest, to this day, I still I really don’t think it I ever got injured. Like, it’s still I still don’t like I guess I’m just delusional, but like I it doesn’t sit right with me that I got injured.

But definitely just coming from that day and just figuring out that I had to get surgery no matter what. I think I definitely switched to rehab mode and just trying to be a better teammate being a coach. LJ, during the national championship run, did you find yourself becoming almost like a coach or a student of the game as you watched everything? What did you learn from that experience? I think I just learned I learned so much in that stretch of me not playing. thing like how the game works, like how runs happen, how we stop runs, all the little details when someone get rejected from a screen and that causes the whole play to mess up, but it was just a simple rejection of the screen and we was late on it caused us to get a open three 10 seconds later. like I started to notice all those things and I think and that’s when it came in like when I realized that like me being able to get over that I just I tore my ACL and trying to get in rehab mode and just attack as much as I can in the game u just based on seeing it cuz that’s all I could do.

I think I really started to learn more and just be able to pick the game apart a lot more. LJ, after the celebration, you had surgery and then started a grueling rehab program. For those that have never had a torn ACL, what is the rehab like? What are what are your days like from a work standpoint? Well, it’s extremely hard.

I think this might have been the hardest thing I ever done in my life. but also I feel like all the work I feel like with injuries, especially with this injury, you only get out what you put in. So I’ve been putting out a lot of hard work to get back from this surgery, but I think it’s all day long. Like I can’t do the I can’t step the wrong way. I can’t sleep the wrong way. I couldn’t sleep the first two weeks to be honest.

But it’s just all the little simple things, getting your rest, eating the right stuff, all that just plays a big part into be able to come back from this injury. What’s worse, the physical pain or the mental toll it takes? say a little bit of both. I say mostly physical. I think I’m I think I’m very strong mentally just because I believe in the path that God has for me. But I say definitely physical. that first two, three weeks when you’re bending and you’re trying to get your quad back and your leg can’t move.

All that stuff is it’s horrible. When you look at your progress now, do you anticipate that you’ll get a chance to play this upcoming year? What’s the prognosis? I definitely think I would be able to play this year, but I’m not going to play this year. I’m just sit this year out and just get stronger and better physically and mentally for next year. you saw the play I’m sure with Brandon McCoy, the freshman five-star tore his ACL. have you had a chance to talk to him?

And if not, what advice would you give him based on your experience? yeah, I’ve seen it play. if I had any advice for him, it would be it’s not it’s not over. cuz I think that was my first thought, initial thought. It’s like how I’m gonna come back from this, like what’s what’s next? Because that was my first big injury. But a talent like him coming back from this, it should be easy. It should be a no-brainer and I just say just take every day.

Take every day as it is. Just go day by day and it’ll fly by. I feel like it’s been two weeks since I had my surgery and it’s been five months and that’s just because I go day by day and I just go as hard as I can each and every single day. A big part of your development I feel was that you played with Trey Donaldson your freshman year, then you played with Elliot Cadeau. you’ve learned a lot from them. What have you taken from both of th those guys when you watch them play and go against them in practice? from Tre Donaldson, just leadership and how to do things the right way, not to be late, how not to do certain things and just be on time and be and be the person that you should be every single day.

And Elliot, I think he was just so skilled just a true point guard, which is like opposite from my game. So, I think for me, just being able to watch him every single day and watch how he controls the team and pass the ball, how he pass the ball. it was a luxury for me to be able to watch him every single day. And I just picked apart his game, watched all his film, to be able to do the same thing when I come back in my own in my own special way. So, you’re you’re going to be a hurricane. And did you talk to Trey Donaldson because he went on the same path as you that you went from Michigan to Miami to the NBA and also how far is it from your home?

Miami is about three and a half hours from my home. yeah, I talked to Tre Donaldson a little bit before I committed to Miami. just ask him how things was and how did they help him get better? How did they help him help him get to the next level and improve his game in that way? It just gave me all the answers that I asked him for that I needed in order for me to feel safe with my decision coming to this university. You said you’re going to miss Michigan, all the fans, all the teammates, but what about in February when it’s 80 degrees in Miami and it’s 13 with wind chills of minus 10 in Ann Arbor? That’s the only thing I won’t miss about Michigan.

The only thing other than that, I miss everything about Michigan. The fans, my brothers, all the players, the staffs. sometimes I miss the cold too, but just the whole city of Ann Arbor, it was special to me. It was the best two years of my life. Yeah. As we wind down, can you share a little bit about some of the teammates that you’re so close to?

Who’s going to have a breakout year for Michigan next year? Next year, obviously Trey McKenney, Elliot Cadeau, they’re going they’re going to be themselves. but I think someone to look out for especially with Brandon McCoy going down is Oscar Goodman, Ricky Liburd. I think those two they’ve been working a bus off this last these last two years to be honest. And nobody they didn’t get any praise for working as hard as they did. they wasn’t getting the minutes they deserve because our team was so great and they just kept their head down. They’ve been working this whole time.

I think it’s going to pay off this year. I think both of them guys should definitely have a big a bigger role and have a breakout year. Final question, LJ, you’re a national champion. you’ve experienced the highs of being a champ, but also the challenges of having a major injury, probably the worst injury that people have to deal with as basketball players. What do you want the people from Ann Arbor to remember about L.J. Cason? well, I want the fans to remember me, the people, is that I just never give up.

I probably tore my ACL the first play when I threw the ball between my legs and instead of just sitting out and just giving it the rest, I tried to come back in and play under some more. So, it’s just that’s just who I am as a person. I never quit. I never give up. And that’s what I want you guys to remember me from.

LJ, I can’t thank you enough for coming on the podcast. and I’m going to have a huge smile on my face in a couple years when I see you get drafted into the NBA and start a long journey. This is all part of your special journey and I’m just such a big fan of your game and I’m not I’m not mad about you leaving. I’m excited to watch the next chapter of your career. Yes, sir. Thank you so much.

Can I at least get a go blue? Can you still Can you Can you say go blue? I still bleed blue. Go blue. Go blue.

I got the got the Michigan thing in my house, man. Yeah. I hope the next It looks good on you. And the next time I see you, hopefully you’re you’re in Ann Arbor receiving your national championship ring. Yes, sir.

Of course. All right. Thanks, LJ. Good luck to you. All right.

See you. Thank you. If you like this kind of content, please like, share, follow, and subscribe.]