Flint — Michigan guard Trey McKenney said he was stunned by the news of head coach Dusty May’s departure to the NBA just months after leading the Wolverines to a national title. McKenney is hopeful the team stays together.
May is finalizing a deal to become the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, and Michigan assistant Mike Boynton is being elevated to interim head coach, according to reports.
“I would say I’m just shocked,” McKenney, an All-Big Ten freshman, told The Detroit News Monday afternoon at the UM Club of Flint’s golf outing. “I don’t want to have too many comments on it, but I’m just really excited with the group of guys we have now, and hopefully we can retain everybody. We have a really great staff, excluding Dusty, so I think we’ll be fine if everybody just settles down and believes in what we have in our facility.”
According to NCAA rules, a 15-day transfer window opens five days after a new coach is hired. But McKenney’s comment suggested he is remaining at Michigan.
“Absolutely, yeah,” McKenney said. “But things have to present themselves.”
He learned of May’s departure like most in the public.
“Online, actually,” he said. “It’s very unfortunate.”
McKenney said practice was supposed to begin Monday, but that’s in a holding pattern for now. He believes Boynton is the right choice to move the team forward this season.
“I think he’s the guy for the job,” McKenney said. “He’s the guy who recruited me, him and Dusty, so I really trust in him and what he’s going to be able to do for the program. Other people have to come on board and believe the same way I do. So I’m just really excited to see what happens in the next few weeks.”
McKenney said he understands Michigan fans being uncertain what to make of May’s move and the future of the program.
“It’s obviously like a whirlwind, because it’s so late,” McKenney said. “We were supposed to start practice today, so it’s definitely upsetting that we can’t get the show on the road. It’s obviously a bump in the road, and some adversity that we have to face, but we’ll come out on top. We have a really great team. Dusty and the staff recruited pretty heavily, and we’ve got a lot of talented guys, so I’m just excited to see what comes out of this.”
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Trey McKenney plans to stick with Michigan. He hopes teammates do, too
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
