Michigan Basketball has earned the commitments of several McDonald’s All-Americans the past few years. The one true product of the Dusty May era is Trey McKenney, who will be a leader for the Wolverines in his sophomore year.
Two new additions who are among the first of the Mike Boynton Jr. era are Brandon McCoy Jr. and Quinn Costello. Both joined the Defend the Block podcast with Brian Boesch before the team headed to Lithuania to talk about their respective games and why they decided to stick with Michigan despite the roller coaster of changes.
McCoy made his initial commitment with the Fab 5 on their live broadcast during the Final Four and described his gratitude for that moment. And when it came to staying committed to Michigan after May’s departure left him in “shock,” it’s been a matter of building and maintaining trust with Boynton and the new staff.
“He’s been really helpful,” McCoy said of Boynton. “I feel like I’m starting to build a lot of trust with him. I hope he’s feeling the same way with me. He’s been helping me stuff like on the court of court. He just has high character. See him in the weight room almost every single day, getting his work in. As long as pushing us on, too. So I think his high character off the court, like, instills trust on the court as well. And I feel like he’s proven he knows what he’s talking about in the space of basketball and I just can’t wait — I can’t wait to keep building this relationship with him.”
For Costello, it was a very similar sentiment after his initial reaction was he doesn’t “want to go anywhere” and that “this is the place for me.”
“Obviously, Dusty played a big part in the reason I committed here, but I feel I really bonded with them and made it like an unbreakable relationship,” Costello said. “(Assistant coach Kyle) Church was my main recruiter, so I got to talk to him a ton. All the other coaches were super welcoming. When I came here on my visit it really felt like home. So that was the main reason I committed. … The first thing (May) told us was that once he’s gone, we’ll all see how unimportant he was, which actually came straight from his mouth. But now with coach Boynton, with all the other coaches that stayed, all the new coaches we brought in, just watching games last year, we’re playing with a super similar system and not much is going to change.”
Despite being different players fundamentally, McCoy and Costello complement each other quite well — but not in an expected way. McCoy prides himself on his defensive abilities and rebounding, being able to play and guard most positions. The part he feels like he’s worked more on in the offseason is building his offense.
“Honestly, I’m really impressed with how my offensive game is developing right now,” McCoy said. “I think this coaching staff is doing an amazing job pulling me in for film and skill work. Just being all around offensively, being able to play one through three. I think versatility is something I really harp on and being here for the past month or two, I feel like I’m becoming, offensively, trying to have no holes in my game.”
Although for a player like McCoy, the offensive game might seem to be the more intuitive portion of the game, what he is looking to improve upon is something Costello has nailed down. Even for a power forward, Costello has had strong shooting abilities since he started playing basketball, with his size allowing him to play as a thinner forward.
“My dad, the countless rebounds, the countless hours he sacrificed where he would take a work call on his phone while he was rebounding for me rather than being there in person,” Costello said when asked about the impact of his dad on his success.
For Costello, those reps with his dad have come to his benefit and development. Something he wants to add more to his game is becoming a more efficient and effective rebounder, like McCoy.
Despite their differences in size and abilities, they complement each other, and that bond has shown throughout the freshman class so far.
“We clicked almost instantly,” Costello said. “I was kind of surprised to see how fast we all clicked, both on the court and off the court. We’re always wanting to get in the gym, push each other to get better. If one guy was going to go to the gym, everyone else was, too, so that’s been great.”
Already well-spoken and mature for his age, McCoy has found himself also taking more of a leadership role early on with the younger players, crediting the system Boynton has that allows him to be that type of leader.
“I feel like a leadership role is available for anybody in the program,” McCoy said. “I don’t think I’m super shy or anything. I feel like I voice my opinion, so of course I want to be a leader. I feel like I have leader blood in me. So day by day, I think I’m taking that step. But instead of only leading by voice, I’m trying to lead by example, winning conditioning drills, going hard in the weight room. So I’m trying to lead by example.”