About seven weeks ago, Divine Ugochukwu went down with a foot injury that knocked him out of the Minnesota game and eventually led to Tom Izzo ruling him out for the rest of the season.
A return of Ugochukwu wasn’t even considered by Michigan State fans until this past weekend when he was spotted getting shots up, jogging, and just looking healthy before the NCAA Tournament. He was moving around well without his walking boot and he even spoke to the media about a potential return sometime in March Madness.
Ugochukwu said that there was a small chance that he could return, but he didn’t say when, he just said that if Michigan State advances.
While Izzo has already ruled out a return for the Sweet 16 and potential Elite Eight, he’s not quite ready to rule out Ugochukwu coming back if Michigan State makes the Final Four.
Izzo told the media that the chances of Ugochukwu playing this weekend against UConn and potentially against Duke or St. John’s are “none or less” which shot down any idea of a potential return for the Sweet 16, but he ended it by saying he could “possibly” play if Michigan State gets past this weekend.
The fact that he’s even leaving the door open to that possibility must mean that Ugochukwu is healthier than we all expected this early in his recovery process.
I doubt Izzo will risk Ugochukwu’s healthy, especially if the Spartans can get to a Final Four without him, but crazier things have happened.
I can already see the Detroit News headline if Ugochukwu returns and plays the role of hero en route to Izzo’s second national title as head coach: Divine Intervention.
Trey Fort is assuming the Divine Ugochukwu role
While Ugochukwu may miss the rest of the tournament, Trey Fort is making sure that his absence isn’t debilitating like it had been for the backcourt’s depth before this past weekend.
Ugochukwu was shooting over 40 percent from three and averaged just over five points per game this season. Fort is averaging 9.5 points while hitting 50 percent of his threes through two NCAA Tournament appearances, eliminating the need for Ugochukwu when he’s playing this well.
There’s still a long way to go (two more wins) before we can really talk about Ugochukwu rejoining the team for the Final Four, but if Michigan State gets there, it’ll be because Fort remained hot.