Michigan freshman guard Trey McKenney’s unofficial debut left much to be desired. His coaches don’t expect that to be the case when the regular season tips off Monday night.
McKenney went 0-for-7 against Cincinnati in the exhibition game. It was his “welcome to the league” moment after taking the Crisler Center court for the first time.
“I’m not worried about Trey McKenney,” Dusty May said Oct. 20. “He’s going to be fine. He’s going to make shots, he’s going to play good basketball. So, yeah, he’ll bounce back. He’ll be fine. I’m kind of glad it happened, because it shows how difficult it is. But he’s a good player. He’s going to be a monster for us this year.”
May has been open about his reasoning for scheduling two formidable teams for the preseason. He wanted to test his new roster, exposing the weak points so he could address them before they actually mattered.
That mentality matters most to the freshmen. Only in practice over the past few months has McKenney played consistently against Division I caliber players, and even then it’s just been the same 15 or so teammates. Better yet, the Bearcats’ starting lineup featured two graduate student guards, both several years older than McKenney.
In the following exhibition game against St. John’s in New York, McKenney struggled again, going 1-for-5 without recording an assist or rebound. Michigan hopes, again, that this will serve as a learning experience to build on.
“He is really talented,” Boynton said Friday. “He’ll have to figure out how he fits in with this group. That’ll probably be the most challenging basketball experience for him that he’s gone through, not that he won’t be capable of helping us win and being a big part of our success this year, but he’s never been asked not to be a primary play-making scorer consistently, right?”
While McKenney is of five-star pedigree, he fits into a deep backcourt, marking him firmly as a role player in the rotation.
“Sometimes he’s our fifth option on the court in terms of what we’re looking to do and the way we play,” Boynton said. “He’ll figure it out, but I’m curious to watch how he embraces that challenge, and I have no doubt, by the way he’s worked since he’s been here in June, that he’ll do well. He’ll certainly hit some bumps in the road, like all freshmen do. But I’m really, really bullish on what he’s going to become and what he’s going to represent for this program.”
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