Five thoughts on Brandon McCoy Jr., a two-way swing piece for Michigan

Five-star Michigan signee Brandon McCoy Jr. will arrive in Ann Arbor as one of Michigan’s highest-ranked recruits in years. The 6-foot-5 guard was once the No. 1 player in the class before his stock slid, only to climb again as a senior.

He finished 10th in 247’s final rankings and 3rd at Rivals, making him one of five top-15 recruits headed to the Big Ten this season. McCoy has all of the high school accolades you could ask for — McDonald’s All-American, three-time USA Basketball gold medalist — and excelled on the All-American circuit this spring.

1. Tailor-made for how Dusty May builds roles

McCoy is a unique prospect with some distinct strengths and weaknesses. He’s also coming to play for a coach who designs his scheme to cater to what players do best. May fits his system to his players rather than fitting his players into his system.

May’s offseason philosophy is usually to let players play as much five-on-five as possible, then start to tailor roles and responsibilities based on what players are most comfortable with. These roles often diverge from traditional positional norms. That’s how you end up with Roddy Gayle Jr. playing in the dunker spot and Danny Wolf playing pick-and-roll like a guard.

With McCoy in particular, this framing is important to keep in mind. It’s easy to fixate on McCoy’s perceived weaknesses. The reasons he isn’t ranked a bit higher are well established: he’s not a true point guard or a wing, and he’s not a great shooter.

A man without a position is a lot less of a concern when you don’t need to fit him into one role, and when he’ll have the luxury of playing next to Elliot Cadeau.

Instead, the focus should be on the areas where McCoy excels — his ability to get into the paint and his ability to finish at the basket — and how he can leverage those skills in Ann Arbor.