The best players and teams stay thirsty, even after tasting victory. Fans and pundits alike find it most interesting to track players who never quite settle, even when they’re ahead, and who set themselves up for banner years through intrigue and skill.
Last year was a banner year, quite literally, for the Michigan Wolverines. Under coach Dusty May, who brought in a star-studded transfer class, the team won the regular-season Big Ten championship and finished off the NCAA tournament with a win over Dan Hurley’s potential UCONN dynasty roster. They built a blueprint for what a modern, championship-contending roster could look like at the college level, even if it took just a year.
What a difference a year makes, however. No sooner had May won the title with the Wolverines than he left for the NBA to coach the Dallas Mavericks. Three of Michigan’s best players from last year, Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., and Aday Mara, were NBA lottery picks. Aside from an unfortunate ACL injury to star freshman Brandon McCoy Jr. during an overseas preseason tour, new Michigan coach Mike Boynton has a May built for the upcoming season, even if it will look drastically different from last season’s title team.
With all the changes in Ann Arbor, it’s worth wondering who will step up and take the reins for the Wolverines. Point guard Elliot Cadeau will run the offense, but he isn’t a top-tier scorer. Both JP Estrella and Moustapha Thiam are talented, but it’s unclear whether either could carry the scoring load of a top college offense.
Amid the maelstrom of Michigan’s roster and coaching turnover, Trey McKenney is the most interesting man in maize and blue this season. He was a key part of the team’s success last season, but departures and injuries have suddenly put a massive onus on him to play a much bigger role.
That’s got me excited as an evaluator, as there’s a ton to love about McKenney as a prospect. With the new context around his game, we should see a fully unleashed version of it, which will paint a clear portrait of whether Michigan’s Most Interesting Man can live up to the hype and follow in the footsteps of his drafted teammates last season.
Vicariously Through Himself: McKenney on Display
So, just who is Trey McKenney as a basketball player? You have to go back to his mid-teen years to start chronicling the accolades, as McKenney has been a prodigious talent for quite some time. From his appearance on the USA FIBA U18 AmeriCup team that won gold in 2024 to his multiple high school titles to his McDonald’s All-American game appearance as Mr. Basketball in Michigan, McKenney’s pre-college resume has no holes.
In college, on a stacked Wolverines roster, McKenney fit well into a defined role. McKenney ranked fifth on the team in points per game, field goal attempts per game, and minutes per game, serving as a utility guard and the first player off the bench. He averaged just 0.1 fewer three-point attempts per game than the team’s leader despite coming off the bench, which also reflected the gunning nature of his job when he checked in.
When he checked in, Trey McKenney knew his role and filled the box score with aplomb. Despite the bigs on the team taking their fair share of shots, McKenney had the green light as a perimeter scorer to attack closeouts and snipe shots at as high a clip as he could.
Trey McKenney’s biggest draw as a prospect is his smooth scoring package. He’s a dynamic shot creator from most spots on the floor and knows when to attack each one. He shows great balance on his pull-up shots, and his form on his jumpers has a high, quick release.
Whether spotting up from deep (where he took, per Synergy, 139 three-point shots and canned a 39.2% clip of them), or pulling up from behind the arc (which he hit to the tune of a modest 33.3% on 33 attempts), McKenney is a dangerous sniper who teams have to respect. He barely needs a second to hit his shots off movement and will be set to take a ton more for Michigan this season.
The balance he shows on his two-point jumpers, which come from his snappy handle and deceleration skills, also hints at the ability to take a more concentrated role as a primary option. That’ll be big for the Wolverines, as they need someone to step into Lendeborg’s top option shoes next season.
McKenney can do damage as a driver too, which he flashed from a variety of angles and play types. He cuts with force, operates well as an attacker off a screen, and can use his first-step burst to blast past defenders in isolation. I wouldn’t say that McKenney has prototypical height for the off-guard position he’ll likely occupy at the NBA level, but he has the right bounce and speed to make up for it.
For a team like Michigan that’s losing a ton of offensive touches and shot attempts from its departing draftees, having McKenney’s ready-made scoring is crucial. He showed he could fill it up in a small sample, but he’s primed to take a ton of shots in an offense more skewed toward his perimeter chops. That should propel him into a premium spot in this year’s draft class.
I Don’t Always…But When I Do: McKenney’s Hidden Upside
As a freshman playing on a loaded contender, Trey McKenney had a clear outlook for what he was expected to do on the floor. He had less pressure to be a creator or stopper for the Wolverines, but he showed enough of both for me to stay optimistic about how he can build on those parts of his game this year.
As a passer, McKenney had a solid, if unimpressive season. He had a near 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio on limited assists, while also posting the ninth-highest Usage Rate on the team. That suggests McKenney’s often intent on scoring, but his 10.3% turnover rate shows he takes care of the ball.
On tape, McKenney has a solid sense of where to place passes. He wasn’t often tasked with running a pick-and-roll or spotting cutters on the move, but he has the touch and timing to do so. I’m interested in what his game will look like with more usage, as he should have the ball more and opposing defenses will pressure him to pass quickly before help arrives.
His 6.4% assist percentage, which is woefully low for a lottery guard prospect, will have to change by default. Elliot Cadeau is still there, but without L.J. Cason and Brandon McCoy, McKenney will be the clear primary scoring threat and secondary creation option in the backcourt for a team that may move away from its interior identity.
As much as I’m focused on McKenney’s offense, I’m just as tuned in to what he can do on the defensive end. Per BartTorvik, the Wolverines led the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency last season. Most of that came from their elite frontcourt trio, but to uphold their reputation, McKenney will have to stay a solid defender while scaling up his offense.
Listed at 6’4” and 220 pounds, McKenney has the size to hold his own on the perimeter. He didn’t have great numbers, including a minuscule steals percentage, but he’s active enough for me to believe opponents won’t target him. That’s admittedly not a high bar, but I’m also factoring in that he’ll have to take on a new role as the team’s leading scorer, which will keep him from digging in more defensively.
While McKenney hasn’t shown much in his passing and defensive numbers, there’s enough on tape to keep me intrigued about his long-term upside. The sell on McKenney as a prospect remains his scoring, but he isn’t as one-dimensional as he may seem. Instead, he should be able to run enough offense and stay in front of his man enough to justify a higher draft selection as long as his offensive arsenal is on full display.
Stay Thirsty, My Friends: McKenney’s Future
The Wolverines will face a wildly different season in Ann Arbor, but Trey McKenney is a particularly interesting case study. He showed enough as an offensive threat last year to be in line to take on a major scoring role this season. The team might not have the same championship expectations, but McKenney’s upside is tantalizing.
If he has the kind of scoring season that carries Michigan back to the upper echelons of college basketball, he’ll be primed to be a lottery selection in this year’s draft class. There are few clear favorites or surefire star players in the 2027 NBA Draft class, which could work to McKenney’s advantage. A stellar season as a top offensive option would convince a handful of GMs, at bare minimum, to give him serious lottery attention.
If he can’t reach these offensive peaks, however, then both the Wolverines and McKenney’s stock will take a hit. He brings a ton as a shot-maker to an offense, but in the modern NBA, players need to bring a bit more than that unless they are the undisputed top option. Without prototypical size or creation chops, it’s harder for a team to convince itself it can center an offense around McKenney.
That’s what makes him the Most Interesting Man on Michigan’s roster and maybe in the entire draft class. A ton of players could have a boom-or-bust season to vault up the 2027 draft board, but no one else carries the weight of having won a championship last season. That burden and gift is McKenney’s alone, and it will be a thrill to watch as he lights up the nets this season in the Big Ten and beyond.