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00:10I just wanted to do my own thing and kind of be different and build a legacy and do
00:16something that a lot of people in this state haven't seen in a while get ready
00:24to see one of the best high school basketball players in America shine on
00:27the big stage Trey McKinney the six-foot-five phenom from Flint was
00:32weighing 33 college offers by his junior year in high school please welcome mr.
00:38basketball 2025 Trey McKinney the stage is set for this young star to make a big
00:51impression a lot of noise here in Ann Arbor about this kid all eyes on McKinney will
00:57he live up to the height huge debut the freshman from Flint drives into the oh
01:06the lights have gone out the basket counts we think
01:38the lights went out and I kept playing for some reason I don't know why it didn't stop
01:44I think it was just my instincts I'm really still wondering why I didn't stop playing
01:56Michigan State is known as a school that a lot of fun basketball players go to I just felt like
02:03Michigan was the right choice for me and I've also have dreams of repping my city and my state
02:17having a foundation of where I grew up at and all the people that care about you just having a
02:23circle
02:23and that foundation to always come back to us you know key hello hey Trey what's going on driving the
02:34st. Mary's running through some old train tracks I'm meeting dad at st. Mary's gonna make a few stops and
02:43see your church I'm gonna make that brisket tomorrow he loves a good barbecue so hey I know it's snowing
02:53mom but I got my cheat day coming up and I'm coming home okay Trey I'm gonna go outside and
02:58I'm actually
02:59gonna smoke a brisket for you in 30 degree weather you'll be able to come get it yeah I'm not
03:07missing
03:07that he came down to his final three schools one in California one in DC and then one basically in
03:16our backyard everybody assumed like oh you want him to go to the one in the backyard and I was
03:22thinking
03:22I would like to see some palm trees every once in a while right I probably took for granted
03:28what an opportunity there was just 40 miles down the road having him so close we were able to
03:35actually see him a little bit more often I call him my sunshine he lights up my day he lights
03:43up my
03:44life and I feel it's my life's purpose to be a mom one of the hardest things about being a
03:52public person is
03:54that when you're doing well everybody's cheering you on but then there are times when you lose a
04:00basketball game and everybody's depending on you to bring the team home and you miss the shot I'm proud
04:08of you no matter what you can make the shot you can miss the shot and I'm still here my
04:15mom is really
04:16loving and caring and she just wants the best for me I actually am looking forward to this I haven't
04:22been home in a while so that would be exciting as well
04:32probably later tonight
04:36no come on come on I would say I have made a lot of friendships on the team
04:43bro you didn't text me and I've gotten closer with the Axel and Roddy we do shooting competitions
04:49after practice and the loser has to buy dinner and we dress up nice yeah no I'm playing him
04:55tonight low-key probably like 9 45 oh my goodness you act like you don't be up that late
05:12we're wearing suit we're wearing suits to the next dinner
05:17man we need new hats though yeah what's wrong with a suit and a hat hello
05:31man we need new hats though yeah
05:38this is a great day
05:41man
05:43he said
05:44oh
05:45no
05:46no
05:46no
05:48no
05:49no
05:49no
06:02I love you, man.
06:07I was about 40 miles away from my family since I was 14.
06:11Just staying by myself and being around my teammates every day.
06:14It was hard, but it definitely helped me grow.
06:21It's super nostalgic in here.
06:24It was great to have a gym like this available to you every day.
06:28I kind of miss it.
06:32He had a maturity about him that not very many freshmen have.
06:37Not very many seniors have.
06:39That was our first glimpse into Trey McKinney.
06:44I knew Trey was a different kid on the court and off the court.
06:47He was the first kid there that was allowed to have what we would classify as locks or long hair.
06:56He came there and was an advocate for change.
07:00I'm just grateful that I went to St. Mary's.
07:02And that community is just amazing.
07:07There you go.
07:09Like, I'm happy I went there and met all these new people, these new friends.
07:13And those relationships are going to last a lifetime.
07:16Yes, sir.
07:17All the homework, bro.
07:18It's like, we did it.
07:19Come on, bro.
07:20We still did it.
07:23I love all y'all, bro.
07:24Yes, sir.
07:26One last time, brother.
07:29I saw him figure it out.
07:31I saw him grow up.
07:32I saw him take the game serious.
07:43This is the oldest gym in the state of Michigan.
07:45This place has been here since the mid-1850s or 1870s.
07:49I find that as a father, I'm beyond proud to say that my son came here for four years, was
07:57class president.
07:58I've had my kids here to represent where we come from and to come here and put a touch, a
08:07different kind of touch, a different kind of mentality to this school.
08:11Those sold-out games, like, that's just something that you really can't get back.
08:15And there's nothing like Catholic League rivalries.
08:19Cheego Harbor no longer exists.
08:22It's now West Bloomfield, which is a mile down the street.
08:26This is West Bloomfield Township.
08:28Waterford, Our Lady of Lakes is about six, seven miles from here on Dixie Highway.
08:33Orchard Lake, of course, Pontiac High School is about four or five miles from here.
08:36Royal Oak, St. Mary's, Holly High School, Fortson and Dearborn.
08:41Good majority of these are still open, and this was from a century ago.
08:45I mean, he knows everything about, like, Michigan and just the state itself.
08:52Remember you and Drew coming in here and throwing you alleys.
09:05There is a lot of sacrifice.
09:07Me and the sisters would stay home a lot.
09:11Him and John became the road warriors, and we would pick up and go to games when we could
09:17and when it could fit into the girls' schedule with John and Trey on the road.
09:22Some of it would be me driving to come to train him.
09:26Some would be for me to spend some time with him and just be father and son.
09:31Some would be for me coming here and taking care of his laundry while he does his homework.
09:37We just always worked as a team when it came to the kids.
09:42I believe in his dream, and I also know that no one is working harder.
09:50He made me realize that the standard is to, you know, get better every day and, you know,
09:56do it on my own and work hard.
09:59I think that's something that you can take anywhere, and it'll be beneficial for you.
10:06So he definitely taught me, you know, how to work hard.
10:09And I think that's something that I've picked up from him since they won.
10:20I was 10 years old when Michigan won their national championship.
10:24I remember sitting in my parents' kitchen, watching Glenn Rice and the Ramil Robinson beat Seton Hall.
10:30Being a person who grew up in Flint, I'm ecstatic that he's home, going to school at Michigan.
10:36I like having my children close a lot.
10:42There's so much history that comes with being from the city,
10:46and there's so many people that have done stuff for me to be here in this moment.
10:53Trey has a big heart, and he loves to give back to his community.
11:00He, you know, he loves where he came from.
11:03He feels like where he came from made him who he is today.
11:09I think what has helped my drive for, you know, not forgetting where I'm from
11:13is my parents and my grandparents on both sides are just deeply rooted with Flint.
11:20You know, my father served in public office for all my life.
11:25Friends, the conclusion of my tenure in the House will cap over 31 years of elected service
11:33to the people of Flint and Genesee County.
11:37When my dad was running for different offices,
11:41Trey would be right there knocking on doors and going to the campaign headquarters.
11:46And my grandma on my mom's side, Rita Stanley,
11:51she was the president of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Flint.
11:55Every child deserves a mentor in their lives, especially in our community.
11:59We believe that inherent in every child is the potential to succeed.
12:05I think that he exudes leadership, and he's a role model for younger people.
12:13Those things are things that we watched, modeled in his grandparents, my grandparents.
12:22My grandma, Cladiel McKinney, used to work at General Motors.
12:27Flint is the birthplace of General Motors, Chrysler's World Headquarters.
12:32Most everybody was working in the plants back then.
12:35I was a production worker, made of fenders and hoods.
12:40Flint has struggled, but, you know, what makes it home is the people,
12:44and so we just love, we love Flint.
12:48I didn't realize how much it meant to him,
12:50and so those were things that were ingrained in him
12:54in a way that wasn't necessarily verbally expressed,
12:58but just how he felt from the people in community.
13:06I can never forget where I'm from.
13:17Hi!
13:21Our home has always been a meeting place.
13:25I met my husband here in Flint.
13:28We've been together over 50 years.
13:30We just love children, and we always try to be there for each grandchild.
13:38Remember this?
13:39That smile, he got that smile, I'm telling you.
13:42I call it that $6,000 smile after them braces.
13:49He's a good kid.
13:52Sensitive, loving, kind, thoughtful.
13:57And this is where we do grandkids' measurements.
14:02Trey started down here when he was tall enough in 7'15.
14:06Then we go, Trey, here in 20, December 20.
14:12Here's Trey again.
14:14Here.
14:16The last one we got, Trey, November 24.
14:20I know you moved into that new apartment, and you do like plants, right?
14:26Maybe I might let you have one of my plants that I'm not so attached to.
14:30But monstrosity, you can't have.
14:33That's the office girl right there.
14:35Your papa brought her home from the office.
14:37You might have a chance of getting her.
14:40Let me see, there's DeVita over there.
14:44That was a Mother's Day griff.
14:46Wow.
14:46Curly Q over here, I don't think you've got enough room for her,
14:50because she'll grow with all the curls falling down and stuff like that.
14:57But I got a chaffalera that thinks it's a vine, so he's going across there.
15:02You got a window for that one that's going like that?
15:04I think your plants might be a little bit too big for my apartment.
15:08She's over here hiding, but she's a looker.
15:15Looker there.
15:16You don't have to water her, but once a month.
15:19That's for everybody that don't have a green thong.
15:21So that might be good for you.
15:25Don't be scared of them.
15:26You just talk to them like you're with your puppy, and that'd be fine.
15:31Um, I'm not really.
15:35My mom got me a couple plants, but, you know, some of them, they have died.
15:39Already?
15:57How do you guys still have the...
16:00You remember that?
16:02I told them they can't go out of the yard, so it'd be facing this way, right at the bottom
16:06of the steps there.
16:07Remember him in the play plan, playing with the ball, and reenacting what he saw on TV?
16:11Mm-hmm.
16:12Seems like it was yesterday.
16:21I still got it.
16:23You know, they would go to the gym every day, so, uh, what time, Dad, are we going to the
16:27gym?
16:28I didn't know we was going to the gym today.
16:29Oh, yeah, we going to the gym today, Dad.
16:32If he missed a free throw after the game, he goes back into the gym and practice by himself.
16:38That's his dedication.
16:42Love you.
16:43Keep making them baskets, man.
16:49I think just my parents going to work every day kind of, you know, made me who I am and
16:57made me want to work even when I'm tired.
16:59It kind of put some perseverance in me.
17:05This is the park I used to go to during COVID and work on my game when maybe we couldn't
17:13get into the gym.
17:17I remember being in the bedroom.
17:20I remember closing the door.
17:21I had worked, like, I want to say, like, a 7 to, like, 5 shift.
17:27I was tired.
17:28I remember it was a Monday night.
17:30It's, like, 8, 8.05, and I hear a clonk, clonk, clonk, clonk, Dad, I need to get some shots
17:35up.
17:36I need to make 100 shots before 9.30.
17:38You know the Y close at 9.30.
17:40So we drive to the Y.
17:42He's in there shooting, doing his thing, and the lights are out, and he's still making free throws.
17:47The only thing that I needed was my basketball and the hoop, and it was there.
17:54Everything he's wanted and wished for and prayed for and dreamt.
17:59It's happened.
18:08I definitely have a lot of memories of being around the church.
18:13Playing around, eating, you know, stealing all my grandma's candy.
18:19Really meeting a lot of people, too.
18:21That church is definitely, like, a big part of me growing up.
18:42Being the third John comes with a lot of responsibility.
18:46I mean, I think it just comes with, you know, taking responsibility for the things you do.
18:52But I think that ultimately came with me just, you know, trying to be a good person and go about
18:58things the right way.
19:00I still see him with a little Nerf ball.
19:02I still see him with that little hoop.
19:05That's the first thing popping in my mind.
19:06And just tonight, looking at him, you know, I was, you know, I don't know, but I was just grateful
19:15to be able to just hug him again.
19:19So that's why I appreciate so much now, seeing him, because they're gone all the time.
19:22I mean, every weekend, not missing a weekend.
19:26It was gone someplace.
19:27Nashville, Charlotte, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas.
19:35Name a place.
19:37How many cars have you worn?
19:39Yeah, I went through two vehicles in that time.
19:44And, um, I'm talking about two, three hundred thousand miles.
19:46Yeah.
19:46I ain't talking about it.
19:48Yes.
19:49Yeah, that's true.
19:50That's true.
20:01Good evening, everybody.
20:04So grateful that everyone is here.
20:06We want to celebrate, I believe, a worthy cause.
20:11One thing I thought of doing this week, one thing stuck out at me for years, actually, but I've never
20:22had the opportunity to put it into words.
20:24And so hopefully tonight I can take a jab at it.
20:27But it's this scripture.
20:31Ask, and it shall be given unto you.
20:34Seek, and you shall find.
20:37Knock, and it shall be opened to you.
20:39For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
20:52I couldn't get away from that.
20:54I never forget when Tay was around eight years old.
21:01So, everyone here knew he was a jokester.
21:04But you could never see him actually doing it.
21:07You would see other children responding to what he'd done.
21:10Because he already had that poker face.
21:14And all of a sudden, this one Sunday that he showed up, all of a sudden, he's not joking.
21:21All of a sudden, I see tears running out of his face.
21:25I told my wife, I said, you know, Trey received, I believe, a gift.
21:33At four years old, I bought him a hoop, a little Nerf ball.
21:37And everyone else would go and do something else tired.
21:41He would be there, sweating in his nose, shooting all day long.
21:47Every time he would come to the house, he would shoot all day long.
21:54One thing I've learned is that we all receive gifts from the Lord.
22:03And not only when I first met him, but ever since Trey received the Spirit of the Lord,
22:10he will run around this church.
22:13Run around this church.
22:16Music's by playing, Trey will take off running.
22:19And I want you to know, every place that I've noticed, Trey to run, he's been a blessing.
22:27He's been a blessing to the school that he's gone to.
22:31He's been a blessing on travel ball.
22:34And now he's at the University of Michigan and also being a blessing.
22:42But I want you to know, listen to those around you that got you where you are.
22:47Coach K, done a great job with Trey.
22:50That little man right there will run through walls for you because he believed in you.
22:57Because you, you two in particular, took good care of my grandson.
23:03I want to thank you, Coach, for taking care of him like he was your child.
23:08His grandmother, Rita Stanley, we love you, appreciate you.
23:12Also his mom, Jasmine.
23:16Love on your parents.
23:18That's the rock.
23:20That's where you came from.
23:21That's who you are.
23:24I'm so proud of you, I can bust.
23:29Because you are a good kid.
23:32I wish my father, I wish Mayor Stanley was here to stand beside us where we both could just love
23:38on you.
23:39Because you made us so proud.
23:41I know, Rita, you've got to be feeling in your chest that this boy has made us all proud.
23:47And I want you to know this.
23:48I'm behind you 150%.
23:52Keep your head up.
23:53Keep looking up.
23:55Don't turn around.
23:57Don't think this is an accident.
24:00Don't think that this has just happened to anybody.
24:03Keep pursuing your dream.
24:05Keep reaching higher.
24:06Keep saying, I can, I can, I can.
24:09I will.
24:11Because you will.
24:38I see some of me in all of them.
24:42And they've all passed on a part of themselves to me.
24:46And it's helped me along the way.
24:55I'm just grateful to have a lot of people who love and care about me.
25:20I'm just grateful to have a lot of people who're in the past.
25:20I'm just happy to have a lot of people who come together.
25:20Thanks, guys.
25:20I appreciate it.
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