What Austin Davis' Injury Means For Michigan Basketball

With Austin Davis out indefinitely, Michigan basketball will have to adjust accordingly.

First of all, you can't help but feel for a kid like Austin Davis. By all accounts he's an extremely hard worker, a very humble kid, an excellent teammate, a very unselfish and helpful veteran and, on top of all that, a damn good big man. 

Being out "indefinitely" is never good for a team or a player's psyche, because there truly isn't a concrete timeline for a return, but if anyone can battle through that, it's Davis. With the fifth-year senior now out for several weeks, it's going to be important for a few things to develop the right way.

1. The Hunter Dickinson era is officially here

It's kind of already been here, but Dickinson will now slide into a starting role and should play even more than his 22.5 minutes per game he had been playing as a reserve. The 7-1 freshman has been quite dominant through five games averaging 14.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing. He's also been taking good care of the basketball and blocking almost two shots per game.

With Davis out, Dickinson will have to continue to work on his endurance and defensive discipline. He's now the only true center on the roster and needs to be on the floor as much as possible. Because of how good he's been and because he's going to be on the floor so much, he's going to be at or near the top of other teams' scouting reports moving forward. That will almost certainly be a new experience for him, at least at this level. It's going to be essential for him to play within himself, find rhythms and maintain his confidence in order to remain effective as conference play begins. 

2. Brandon Johns Jr.'s role increases again

Last year Brandon Johns Jr. had to step up in a big way when Isaiah Livers was out. This year, he'll have to do it again in Davis' absence. 

Johns is slightly better suited to play the 4 because of his size and skill set, but he's got good size at 6-8, 240 pounds and he's very springy. He's obviously not the banger that Davis is, but he can run the floor, shoot from the outside and play above the rim. He's a different kind of center and actually allows Michigan to do some different things on offense and defense. 

From everything Juwan Howard has said, Johns has a great disposition and work ethic and has no problem adapting. It played out that way last year as he stepped in for Livers and I'd expect it to play out that way again this year as he gets more run at the 5.

3. Eli Brooks steps into captain role

Juwan Howard has called Eli Brooks a coach on the floor several times so him being "promoted" to captain is hardly going to be an adjustment for him. I actually doubt he'll change much moving forward.

He's the son of a coach, he's extremely smart and he's very balanced on both ends of the floor. On defense especially, Brooks is vocal, disciplined and very proactive. Mike Smith recently mentioned that he very rarely gets open or gets the best of Brooks because of how smart Brooks is when it comes to angles, beating screens and getting into a guarding position. All of those traits should make Brooks a great captain because he's basically been acting like a captain already.

4. Austin Davis' new role

If there's a silver lining to Davis getting injured, it's that he should thrive as an "assistant" while recovering. During a recent postgame interview, Dickinson spoke about how much Davis has helped him through his first few games.

“I think it would probably be easier to say what he hasn’t done for me,” Dickinson said of Davis with a laugh. “Every play, every rep, something. After everything I do, he’s in my ear coaching me, giving me advice on something I should do. Whether it’s screening angles or something on the block. Different movements where I should be just in different sets of the play. I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done. He's really helped me make the game easy, almost.”

Davis obviously won't be on the floor banging with Dickinson, but he'll be able to approach the game from a different angle through film review, chalk talk and from the sideline without the "distraction" of focusing on what he needs to do when out on the floor.

5. Austin Davis' future

With Davis out for a considerable amount of time, I'm curious about what will happen with him moving forward. It's too early to tell exactly how many games he'll miss, but with the season not counting against anyone's eligibility anyway, it's conceivable that Davis could return for a sixth year if there's room on the roster. 

Davis came a long way under Howard's tutelage last year and was off to a good start through five games this year. He was starting, but was probably headed to his more natural role as a backup come this week with the emergence of Dickinson and the uptick in competition as Big Ten play begins. I've always said that Davis is a perfect backup big man. He doesn't need any plays called for him, he'll always grind and bang against whoever the other team's best big man is, he can go out and get you 8 or 10 quick points, he's relentless on the glass and as a hustler and he's going to get the most out of his fouls. He's a tireless worker, the furthest thing from a diva and won't sulk if he happens to play less than 10 minutes. He's also a glue guy and a great practice body. He literally is ideal as a backup and brings a lot of value to a team. As a 19-year NBA veteran, Howard knows what guys like that mean to a squad. I wouldn't be surprised if Davis comes back again next year.