Dusty May and Michigan men’s basketball have gotten suddenly hot on the recruiting trail over the past week, and more good news could be in store for the Wolverines in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, 247Sports’ Brice Marich submitted a crystal ball prediction for Michigan to land five-star Flint (Mich.) St. Mary’s combo guard Trey McKenney. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder is set to announce his commitment on Nov. 9, with the Wolverines one of three finalists alongside USC and Georgetown.
New #Michigan @247Sports Crystal Ball Prediction for Dusty May and his staff to land one of America’s top basketball prospects this cycle (VIP)https://t.co/iiaIWz7LEk pic.twitter.com/eqeioCezhH
— Brice Marich (@BriceMarich) October 24, 2024
According to 247Sports Composite rankings, McKenney is considered the No. 20 overall prospect, No. 3 combo guard and No. 1 player from the state of Michigan in his class. The Flint native has garnered 35 Division I scholarship offers, including one from in-state rival Michigan State.
Here’s how 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein evaluated McKenney this past summer:
McKenney is a big-bodied scoring guard and unique backcourt match-up because of his very broad frame and massive 6-foot-9 wingspan. He plays with an aggressive scoring mentality and has an advanced understand of how to leverage his body type within his attack. He’s powerful, physical, crafty, has a great left-hand, and is also very adept at scoring over top of contesting defenders in the mid-range area.
While McKenney can have a high-volume approach, and settle for too many tough-twos at times, he’s actually an underrated initiator when he’s allowed to play with the ball in his hands. He has clear potential playing out of ball-screens and some instinctive feel for the game to match his sheer power.
McKenney is an excellent free-throw shooter (92%), but doesn’t get there quite enough to take full advantage, especially given his body type. His shooting stroke isn’t quite as natural from long range, but he’s shown some clear progress and made 36% on just under 6 attempts per game in the EYBL.
Defensively, he’s typically willing to compete, but sometimes limited by a lack of lateral quickness. That footspeed is going to be tied to continuing to make strides with his conditioning, albeit without shrinking his frame too much, since that is such a critical part of his identity. McKenney is also an excellent rebounding guard.
Michigan has landed a pair of commitments over the past week, including four-star Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep small forward Winters Grady and four-star New Zealand native Oscar Goodman, each of whom are considered Top 100 prospects in the 2025 class.
Michigan will play an exhibition game against Toledo on Friday, Oct. 25 (7:30 p.m. / BTN) in Ann Arbor, before the Wolverines get their regular season underway on Nov. 4 with a visit from Cleveland State to the Crysler Center (8 p.m. / BTN).
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