Isaiah Livers remains day-to-day in return to court for Michigan basketball

Michigan Wolverines head coach Juwan Howard took to the podium on Tuesday afternoon from Crisler Center to preview the game against Penn State on Wednesday, but did not have much to add is it pertains to the return of one of his stars.

Junior forward Isaiah Livers has missed the last five games that span a four-week period with a groin injury, but Howard did not have much to update in terms of if he would be able to play on Wednesday. Instead, he doubled (tripled, quadrupled at this point?) down on the fact that it’s an indefinite ailment.

“It’s a day to day process,” Howard said. “He’s improving. He’s definitely improving. And it’s a great sign. Not a good sign...a great sign.”

In terms of the what it will actually take before he gets out there with his teammates, Howard did shed a bit of a light on what he would like to see before making a decision.

“We’re looking forward to Isaiah joining us in practice very soon,” Howard said. “That’s a part of Isaiah getting closer to joining his teammates on the court. My philosophy is that I’d like to see our guys practice at least once or twice, and hopefully Isaiah soon will get a chance to get out there and compete and see how he feels after a practice because that’s always the case too.

“When you practice, your body is going to not have done anything in the last four to six weeks, so you’re going to be sore. But how do you feel from that injury? That’s the key point that next day.”

Given that Michigan has been relatively cryptic about his status, it is unclear if “very soon” meant that the practice that followed the media session would be when that occurred. We will have to wait and see if he is dressed tomorrow night and go from there.

Wednesday’s game against Penn State tips off at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast via Big Ten Network.