L.J. Cason has become Michigan basketball's X-factor in March Madness run
At one point, the Michigan Wolverines were down double digits with their season seemingly hanging in the balance.
In the next moment, seemingly, they were polishing off a 41-19 run to celebrate their 91-79 Round of 32 victory over Texas A&M to move onto the Sweet 16. After the game at Ball Arena in Denver, Michigan basketball coach Dusty May was asked what changed and his answer came in an instant.
"We subbed in L.J. Cason,” May said of the spark. “He broke the defense down, got downhill, got in the paint.”
Cason, U-M's lone freshman who plays notable minutes after Justin Pippen entered the transfer portal on Monday, played 20 minutes (the fourth most in his career) and scored 11 points, tied for the second most in his career and the most he'd scored since November to help power the Wolverines to a victory.
A month earlier, such a performance would've seemed impossible. From Jan. 4 to Feb. 21, the Wolverines played 13 games but Cason saw the court in just eight of them for a total of 35 minutes and scored just 12 points.
The majority of his appearances were just in mop-up time, as the only game in the whole stretch where he saw more than eight minutes was when Michigan was down by 30 at Purdue and May just wanted to get out of West Lafayette, Indiana with his team's health still in order.
Cason, who seemed to be possibly hitting the proverbial freshman wall, could have folded as May has seen many first-year players do. Instead, he dug in and doubled down as he began to have some of his better practices.
"I pushed some of the wrong buttons with him this year, trying to expedite the process but man, he stayed the course," May said. "Has a great circle around him that never pointed him a different direction away from the team."
That led to the past month, where Cason has played double-digit minutes in eight of 10 games and averaged 15.6 minutes per game. He's heated up from the floor, averaging 8.3 points over the past three games to go with five assists and just one turnover.
Though the numbers aren't eye-popping, they're essential for the Wolverines. Tre Donaldson has handled the bulk of the point guard duties this season and while he too has been impressive − each of the past four games he's hit a clutch shot in the final two minutes to help U-M close out the victories − there were times he needed a spell.
However, nobody was ready in the coaches' minds to make it happen. May admitted this year there were games where they just kept Donaldson on the court as they were "chasing" that individual victory and a Big Ten title.
But once that goal became out of reach late in the season, Cason started getting more run as May re-calculated his error. Fortunately for U-M, it wasn't too late, and Cason has instead been able to serve as a spark.
"To come in the game and have that impact, just doing whatever the team needs," Cason said of the mindset he adapted. "Whether that’s scoring, passing, defending, it just feels great."
Cason did not receive a ranking from 247Sports composite grades (he was a 3-star per the website) but the product out of Lakeland, Florida (Victory Christian Academy) was on FAU's radar early. May credits his staff with being the first to "love" him and while May liked him at first when he saw him play as a back-up on his AAU team, he really saw something click during his high school games.
"That’s when I was like 'okay this guy has something special to him' and we thought he could play anywhere in the country," May said Saturday. "Fortunately, he believed in us. He could’ve gone to any of the SEC schools, but he wanted to (come here) he stayed loyal."
Admittedly, the winter hasn't been easy for the Florida native, but he said he didn't spend much time outside the past few months: he was either in class, in the gym or at his living quarters.
The hard work paid off. Cason checked into U-M's most recent game with it tied at 10 and moments later drilled his first 3-point try of the night. On the ensuing possessions, he twice got into the lane before dropping off handoffs for easy Danny Wolf finishes at the rim.
That opened up the rest of the game as Cason was able to make layups, free throws and generally have his way.
"I thought L.J. ignited this run," May said. "We were flat. … This was our fifth game in nine days. So I start thinking, 'Man, do we have enough in the tank?' … But his energy, ability to get in the paint, decision-making was great. And that started the run."
The weather is heating up and so too is Cason. Now, it's time to see what he has in store down in the A-T-L.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: L.J. Cason has become Michigan basketball's X-factor in March Madness
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