Trey McKenney Breaks Down Dusty May's Departure, Michigan Hiring Mike Boynton Jr.

The rising sophomore shares why he's excited for Boynton Jr. as the head coach and why there won't be a big gap.

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Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney were the first two players to reaffirm their commitments to Michigan once Dusty May departed for the NBA, and it happened fairly quickly. Not because they weren't going to miss May's coaching, but they knew the Wolverines had built another solid roster, and the staff wasn't going to make any wholesale changes.

For McKenny, he wanted to come back to Michigan to play in an expanded role to further show what he's capable of doing. After coming off the bench last season, McKenney is a popular name being picked to have a breakout season.

Appearing on Hail Media's 'Go Blue Hoops', McKenney recalled lifting in the gym when the news broke on May leaving Michigan. Despite the shocking turn of events, he has no hard feelings towards his former head coach. Instead, he feels gratitude, and he's excited for Mike Boynton Jr. and his staff to show what they are capable of.

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"I don't have any harsh or bad feelings towards Dusty at all," McKenney told Tim McCormick. "Everybody in their profession — they want to go to the highest level of their profession. Anybody else would have took the opportunity right away or even scratched their head and thought about it a little bit more. So, I'm really just happy for him and just to be able to say that I played for a high level coach like that and really impacted the game in a positive way is good for me, but also just him being the person he was, you know, throughout the season.

"...I'm just really happy for him, but more importantly, I'm happy for our staff. I think a lot of the assistant coaches and, obviously coach Boynton Jr. was appointed our head coach. So, I think it'll be good for him to be able to show that he did a lot last year behind the scenes and those guys did a lot behind the scenes with film and scouts and stuff like that. So, I think it'll be a good opportunity for them to be able to show that they can make a real impact on our team."

McKenney's first conversation with Mike Boynton Jr. after May left

Mike Boynton Jr. was a key part in getting McKenney to come to Michigan in the first place. Boynton Jr. was one of, if not the most, avid recruiters on May's staff. He quickly formed a bond with Boynton Jr., and when news hit of May leaving for the NBA, McKenney went to speak with him.

McKenney told McCormick that not much needed to be said in the meeting. Both parties were on the same page, but McKenney knew he had to step up in a leadership role to get his teammates not to make a hasty decision and understand that nothing was going to change.

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"Not much was said," McKenney said of his first talk with Boynton Jr. "We just knew like me and him, we were on the same page already. We already knew that nothing was going to change in the program. Dusty, he recruited such a great staff and they really built a culture inside of our program to where even if Dusty wasn't there, our team was going to be the exact same, our culture was going to stay the exact same, and we were going to go about every day with the same mentality.

"So, it was really just trying to reassure all the other guys that nothing was going to change and everybody's role was going to stay the same. And I think that conversation was mostly about me being more of a leader and trying to convince guys to stay and stick it out and see what's going on and just kind of process things a little bit more before making a quick decision. So, I think that conversation, it was really good for the both of us to be on the same page."

McKenney on Boynton Jr.'s strengths

Boynton Jr. agreed to a two-year deal to become the new Michigan head coach after having an interim tag placed on him. He has seven years of head coaching experience, and May brought him to Ann Arbor to essentially become the Wolverines' defensive coordinator.

He's a bright mind, and McKenney doesn't believe there will be much of a gap from last season to this year under Boynton Jr.

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"I think the most important thing that makes him the easiest to connect with is just he's like a he's a player's coach," said McKenney. "He just wants to get the best out of you, but more importantly than that, I mean, he just cares about the person. I can't thank him enough. I mean, he's definitely been an outlet for me there in this big space of college athletics. Being able to talk to him and grow as a person, but most importantly on the court — I train with him every day countlessly.

"I mean, that's our thing. So, I would say the fans should be really excited. He's going to bring a lot of energy towards this team. He was basically the head of our defense last year, you know how talented our defense was. We had the best defense in the country. So, that'll be really, really exciting to see what he has planned for us. But, I think he's going to bring a lot of energy to this school. And I don't think there will be a big gap between last year and this year."

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