Michigan’s Roddy Gayle Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Trey McKenney spent part of their Final Four trip doing what they have done all season: leaning on each other. The three teammates were in their Indianapolis hotel room chatting with fans on a TikTok live before No. 1 seed Michigan played No. 1 seed Arizona in the Final Four.
What looked like an easygoing video from a hotel room was really the latest snapshot of a bond that started in the gym. Gayle said the friendship happened by accident, and that all three are quiet, shy homebodies who might never have ended up this close if Michigan assistant coach Mike Boynton Jr. had not put them together to work out.
Boynton said the routine was steady. The players were doing daily workouts most of the season, with the coach in the background helping while they pushed one another. He said the three challenged each other, and that his role was mostly to offer pointers, guide them and rebound shots. McKenney said the pattern became personal after he invited Lendeborg and Gayle to join one of his extra sessions. From there, he said, the group became best friends.
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The connection matters because it has become part of Michigan’s run to the national semifinals. Final Four teams usually sell cohesion as a slogan, but this one appears to have grown through repetition: practice, extra work and another session the next day. McKenney said it meant a lot to have the older players with him, especially because he is so young, and he described the relationship as special because they have been by his side through the season.
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The one wrinkle is that the bond was not built through some planned team retreat or bonding exercise. It came from the same kind of work that fills most college basketball seasons, only repeated enough that it turned into something larger. Boynton said the trio had been doing it most all season. By the time Michigan reached Indianapolis, the players were not just teammates sharing a room before Arizona. They were a group that had already spent months finding each other one workout at a time.
