Early life and high school
McKenney was born on September 6, 2006, the son of John McKenney II and Jasmine (Stanley) McKenney. [1] [2] He was born in Flint, Michigan, [3] and grew up watching Michigan Wolverines basketball with his father. [4] His maternal grandparents were students at the University of Michigan, and it was always his dream to play there. [5] McKenney's maternal grandfather is Woodrow Stanley, a former Mayor of Flint, and his Aunt, Linnell Jones McKenney, is regarded as Flint's first female professional basketball player. [2] Flint has a strong basketball history, including local high school greats such as Glen Rice, Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell having played high school ball there. However, by the 21st century, local legends such as Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGee and Miles Bridges played high school at distant prep schools. McKenney also left the Flint area to attend St. Mary's Preparatory, a residential private school located 45 minutes from Flint. [6]
According to his own Twitter account, McKenney received his 6th NCAA Division 1 scholarship offer (from Illinois) on November 17, 2021, as a freshman. [7] By the end of 2021, he also had offers from Michigan and Alabama. [2] That season St. Mary's captured the Catholic High School League championship. [8] The team was led by Michigan AP first-team selections JaVaughn Hannah and Kareem Rozier, as well as McKenney as a second-team honoree. [9] In June 2022, following his freshman season, his offers list included Alabama, Arizona State, DePaul, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State, TCU, Temple and Texas. [10] As a sophomore, he led St. Mary's to a surprise 2023 MHSAA Division 1 final four appearance, despite an 11–10 regular season record and a last place 2–8 division performance. [8] Along the way, the team defeated former number-one ranked Brother Rice, top-ten ranked University of Detroit Jesuit and North Farmington, and defending state champion De La Salle. [8] As a junior, McKenney led St. Mary's to a 27–1 record and the 2024 MHSAA Division 1 state championship, scoring 32 points and 10 rebounds in a victory over North Farmington on March 16. [11] [12] In the game, McKenney made 8 of 11 field goals and all 14 free throws. [13] St. Mary's was the number-one ranked school in the state for the entire season. [14]
Following his junior year, McKenney represented the United States men's national under-18 basketball team at the 2024 FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup, winning a gold medal. He started all six games for the undefeated team USA, averaging 10.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals in 18.8 minutes. [15] [4] McKenney finished second on the team in scoring. [5]
On November 9, 2024, McKenney announced his commitment to the University of Michigan via a live broadcast on 247Sports, choosing from his final list that also included Georgetown and USC. [4] As a blue chip five-star recruit, he received over 30 offers and was listed as the 19th best basketball player in the national class of 2025, according to the 247Sports composite ranking at the time of his commitment. ESPN ranked him 16th in the class at the time, but unlike most rankings they listed him second in the state of Michigan. He was listed second because they recognized Darius Acuff as a Michigan native, although he had transferred from Detroit Cass Tech to IMG Academy in Florida as a junior. [16] McKenney and Acuff played together on the same AAU team, The Family, in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL). [17] When they were both sophomores in Michigan with their high school teams, McKenney was the 2023 Michigan Associated Press (AP) Division 1 Player of the Year at St. Mary's. [18] However, when they played together for Team USA, Acuff was the MVP of the 2024 FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup. [19] McKenney won the Michigan AP Player of the Year for a second consecutive season as a junior in 2024. [20] He also was named the Michigan MaxPreps Player of the Year, Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year and the Detroit High School Sports Athlete of the Year. Per game, he averaged 22.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. [21] [22] [23]
McKenney entered his senior season as one of the top 25 players in the nation according to Sports Illustrated . [24] In December 2024, at the Motor City Roundball Classic, McKenney became the all-time leading scorer in St. Mary's basketball history, passing former Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas' mark of 1,688 career points. [25] As seniors, McKenney and Acuff met in an interstate matchup, with IMG Academy and St. Mary's playing each other in a closely contested regular season game. St. Mary's led for three quarters before IMG went on to win 67-62. McKenney finished with 37 points on 12-of-17 shooting, with eight made threes, and Acuff was 11-of-19, with 32 points and four made three-point shots. [17] Following the contest against IMG, McKenney found out he broke a metacarpal on his left hand in the third quarter, forcing him to miss multiple games as a result. [26]
In January 2025, McKenney was named a McDonald’s All-American. He was the first Michigan signee to be selected since Moussa Diabaté, Caleb Houstan and Kobe Bufkin in 2021, and would be the first to play in the game since Daniel Horton in 2002 (due to the COVID-19 cancellation in 2021). [27]
