The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544920
JUNE/JULY 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 27 2026 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE "He's a terrific person who comes from a really great family, a terrific household," Jackson praised. "They are unselfish, for-the-community type peo- ple. They raised him that way, as well … a very, very respectful, great person. "When I got him three years ago, I thought he could be pretty good be- cause he had good hand-eye coordina- tion, really nice form on his jump shot. You're thinking he'll always have that, but I didn't know he could be a McDon- ald's All-American, top player in the country type good." A BREAKOUT SUMMER But that's what happened in the summer of 2025. Costello continued to put in the work, and his game kept improving. He rose to No. 39 in the Rivals Industry Ranking after a series of outstanding camps, earning mul- tiple offers on the way. He was MVP of the prestigious Pangos All-American camp in California, voted one of the top "stock risers" after shining at the elite NBPA Top 100 camp as a late addition, and racked up even more offers from elite schools across the country. Costello earned top-10 performer mention from Shaw at the NBPA Top 100 Camp. "Shooting is Costello's thing," the Rivals analyst said. "At his size, he has a repeatable jump shot that will con- sistently space the floor. He showed he can also be more than just a shooter, straight-line driving closeouts and fin- ishing above the rim in traffic. "… Given his shooting, positional size, and versatility, expect his star to continue to rise." Shaw was right about that. Michi- gan State and Purdue wanted Costello badly, and Texas and others offered im- mediately. In the end, though, Costello found exactly what he was looking for at Michigan. In late April, U-M's head coach in- sisted the 6-foot-10 standout would have a shot to play immediately. "Quinn is another one who, because he has positional versatility, gives him- self a much better chance as a fresh- man of getting on the court," May said. "Obviously, he's good enough to play. His ascent was probably as high as any- one, and where he didn't get invited to the NBPA Top 100 camp and then got a last-minute add-on, he flew down the day of and performed really well there. "He's 6-10. He's skilled. He's ath- letic." How much he plays, Johnson said, could really depend on two things — added strength and rebounding. If he adds the former it will help with the latter, and while he played well at the McDonald's game (7 points, 3 rebounds) he also got pushed off his spots a bit by stronger players. Offensively, though, he's a floor spacer and more, and only getting better. "He can shoot on the move, so I think he has the ability to be a problem in high ball-screening actions as well as off-ball screening actions," John- son continued. "He puts pressure on the defense in a couple different ways where he's not just a slow guy you park in the corner. "He can be that, but he can also be someone who can do stuff in the ball screen or come off a stagger action. "He can do that because of his shot and the urgency in his movement. It really puts pressure on the defense. I think they can utilize him to stretch the floor and utilize him to open the floor for everybody else, too." READY FOR MICHIGAN He's still just scratching the surface of his potential, too. A Medford, Mass., native, Costello showed glimpses of what he could do on the 2025 Under Armour Circuit with the Middlesex Magic, averaging 11 points and 5 re- bounds per game. When he got back to Newman, he looked like a guy who knew how good he was. Getting there, Johnson noted, was the product of a lot of hard work with- out a lot of fanfare. "He just kept showing up," Johnson said. "What others conceive as a lot of work is not taxing for him. On the flip side, he's not one of those guys who is super emotional about it … not like, 'I'm a gym rat. I'm always working. Nobody will outwork me.' "He's not that type of guy. He's just a guy that goes about his business and gets up at 6 a.m., gets on the floor, lifts, practices, moves on to something else, and that's it. It's just impressive to me how casual he was in his ability to be- come consistent." It led to a senior year in which he av- eraged nearly 17 points and more than 8 rebounds per game. While his jump shot might be the best tool in his arse- nal, Johnson believes his best days are ahead of him. "He measured 6-10 without shoes, 6-11 in them on his official visit to Michigan State," he said. "I'm excited to see what he does when he gets with Dusty a Michigan." As is the Michigan fan base that's getting used to seeing impressive big men in Ann Arbor. Costello arrives with a chance to continue the tradi- tion, and he said in January he couldn't have been happier with his decision to sign early. "When I was there on my visit, it re- ally felt like home," he said. "My re- lationship with Dusty and the whole staff was super strong, and I think we built pretty unbreakable bonds with the coaches. "After visiting there, it was always Michigan for me. I want to be there for as long as I possibly can, whether it's four years or whether it's one. I think the future for Michigan basketball has a lot of national championships coming." One down after this year's title. With talent like Costello, the Wolverines might not have to wait too long for the next. ❑ MICHIGAN'S 26 MCDONALD'S ALL-AMERICANS 1980 — Tim McCormick 1981 — Eric Turner 1982 — Richard Rellford 1983 — Antoine Joubert 1984 — Gary Grant 1986 — Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills 1987 — Sean Higgins 1991 — Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Chris Webber 1993 — Bobby Crawford 1994 — Willie Mitchell, Jerod Ward 1995 — Louis Bullock, Robert Traylor, Albert White 1999 — LaVell Blanchard 2002 — Daniel Horton 2021 — Kobe Bufkin, Moussa Diabate, Caleb Houstan 2025 — Trey McKenney 2026 — Quinn Costello, Brandon McCoy Jr.