Michigan basketball received some unfortunate news in regards to its superstar freshman, Brandon McCoy Jr.
McCoy, a top-10 player in the nation in the class of 2026 per 247Sports composite rankings, will be out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee, the school announced Tuesday, Sept. 2.
It all happened in a flash as McCoy went down in U-M's last of three games during its overseas trip on Aug. 27 against Mega Superbet in Igalo, Montenegro. The 6-foot-6 athlete who was expected to play both shooting guard and small forward stole a pass at midcourt and took the ball on a fast break before he slipped and his right leg appeared to collapse under him.
He grabbed at his right knee while he stayed on the ground as the officials stopped play
before trainer Chris Williams, strength and conditioning coach Matt Aldred and coach Mike Boynton Jr. all came onto the court to check on him. A number of U-M players surrounded him as he sat up from the floor, which included center Moustapha Thiam (who injured his lower right leg earlier in the trip), who hobbled over to check on him.
McCoy was unable to put any weight on his leg as the coaches ended up carrying him off the court.
It's a massive blow to the Wolverines' rotation, with McCoy expected to either be a starter or at minimum a key sixth man off the bench in a similar capacity to Trey McKenney of a season ago. He was also seen as an option as a contingency plan at point guard in emergency situations.
"He's probably different — in terms of the collective skill and athleticism that he has — than anybody we've had the last two years, to be honest," Boynton said earlier this summer. "Just the size. He's 6-6. He's got a 7-foot wingspan. He rebounds it as well as anybody that we've probably coached here other than Morez [Johnson Jr.] in the last two years.
"He's really smart, he's competitive, he's unselfish and he's a winner — he's a three-time gold medalist already at his young age. So he's going to bring some pop."
The Wolverines are suddenly thin in the backcourt outside of their standout starters in Elliot Cadeau and McKenney. U-M is hoping to add a few more guards, but neither is a certainty after The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently paused an earlier ruling that allowed certain class of 2022 student-athletes to compete for a fifth season.
In August, Michigan had agreed to bring on fifth-year guard Kenny Noland (Columbia) who was the second-leading scorer in the Ivy League in 2025-26 as a backup point guard according an individual with knowledge of the move told the Free Press. U-M never announced the signing officially and it's now in limbo with the latest win in court by the NCAA.
Seemingly, that's also what's holding things back on the Roddy Gayle Jr. front. The U-M national champion traveled to Europe with the Wolverines and was seen just behind the Wolverines' huddles during their 1-2 stretch overseas, but his availability (like all seniors from the class of 2022) is in question. Gayle did file a lawsuit against the NCAA with the intention of playing another year.
“If there's an opportunity for Roddy to be back and he wants to be back, we certainly will have him back,” Boynton said last month.
Michigan wanted him to join the team even prior to this injury, but now it's all the more paramount given he plays the same positions as McCoy. In the meantime, it places the onus on a few less proven pieces. Sophomore Ricky Liburd, who didn't suit up for Michigan last season, is one option for more playing time.
U-M could also opt to go with a bigger lineup and give additional time on the wing to someone like junior Oscar Goodman or fellow freshman Quinn Costello. It also seemingly opens the door even more for freshman Joseph Hartmann, who was impressive and poised in three games overseas.
While Michigan has a few months to figure out how to adjust its rotations, it's a critical loss for the defending national champions. U-M was overwhelmingly talented last season, and its health was also largely very good.
Seven of U-M's nine rotational players played all 40 games while an eighth, Gayle, played in 39. Michigan's only true injury of the season was to L.J. Cason, in the final game of February, who was lost for the season.
U-M will now have to find a way to handle the adversity under a new coach with a roster that only returns (for now) two rotational players from last season's team.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball's Brandon McCoy out for season with torn ACL
