Pretty much the list you’d expect from a top 50 kid in West Virginia. Maybe missing Tennessee or Ohio State but otherwise all the top regional programs plus UNC.
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If anyone cares I did some Google maps research lol. The time given is estimated drive time from Poca high school to the university.
Kentucky - 2 hr 27 min
West Virginia - 2 hr 34 min
Louisville - 3 hr 21 min
Virginia - 4 hr 2 min
North Carolina - 4 hr 48 min
Indiana - 4 hr 59 min
Purdue - 5 hr 45 min
Illinois - 6 hr 28 min
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If you’re gonna put out a list like that this early that’s the way to do it, include everyone involved offers or not. He’s not picking anyone off that list.
They have a lot of built in advantages with McKneely. Should have a great chance as long as they really go for it. That said, I wouldn’t get too attached to the idea of any of these 2022 recruits until after the season when we see TB investing his time in them.
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Travis Branham on 247 referred to UVA as being McKneely’s dream school on the louisville board. From the West Virginia board and those who know a lot of people in Poca WV, the chatter is heavy UVA.
But Kentucky concerns me greatly in this recruitment. Of course I don’t get too concerned over one recruit. But I like McKneely’s skill set a lot and if Kentucky gets involved, that is a MAJOR road block, regardless of the recruit. Of course as HGN said we may not even get involved ourselves, especially if we land Keels. But it seems like we have shown solid interest as a program so far.
Still think he is a higher ceiling Kyle Guy (which is HUGE expectations i know, Guy is a Final 4 MVP McDonalds All American).
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I really hope we get Keels or McKneely. Think a great combo guard like those two would position us for an early 90’s Duke type of run over the next 4-5 years.
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It’s gonna be tough to fight off Kentucky when they really sell him on being Herro or Murray
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True but I think we have a great shot, especially if we offer early. I think McKneely has a higher ceiling.
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Are we sure McKneely has a higher ceiling? Maybe as an NBA player, since he’s bigger and more athletic than Guy, but Guy was one of the best shooters in the country. The man shot 43% for his college career when half those attempts were off movement. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone as good as Guy at hitting off-balance 3s from nearly a full sprint.
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I mean higher ceiling than Keels but you could include Guy. He’s more comparable to Herro than Guy. Guy’s size limits his ceiling. We are speaking of ceiling not floor also.
Don’t know if this is true. In order to actually determine Keels ceiling we need to see what role he develops into. 3 and D? Combo guard? Big point guard? Eric Gordon type? Buddy Hield-like? I have no idea at all what Keels NBA potential is but I know he is going to be a damn good college player. Very much in HGN’s camp in that if Keels comes here, even though he is a want and not a need, he has the potential to join Tony’s Mt Rushmore here at UVA.
I don’t know about McKneely’s percentages which paints a better picture probably but from just watching him get his shot off so effortlessly I think he can get there. But yeah Guy had some acrobatics LOL. Also his lightening fast release. What an all time great for us.
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At this point, Keels plays below the rim. It would behoove him to have someone like Mike Curtis to maximize his physical capabilities. However, McKneely like Murray plays more above the rim, with McKneely being more polished of the two. Keels, is more polished, complete, and under control but less explosive (at the moment) than either of the other two. He’s already trimmed down and has the ability for more explosiveness which will better prepare him for the open NBA game.
I will go out on a limb and predict McKneely commits somewhere before Keels. It’s really early to pick a top 8 during the pandemic unless there is an opportunity to commit somewhere early.
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It is interesting that Carson McCorkle liked Tipton Edit’s post about McKneely. Maybe they visited together at one point. Also I like how both on instagram and twitter I saw a lot of orange and blue diamonds under McKneely’s post and I was thinking “Hell yeah Hoos represent” and then I realized Illinois is also blue and orange lol.
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They were only one class apart until Carson reclassified. They might’ve played against each other or been in the same tournaments and run into each other.
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Brian Snow w this blurb on McKneely from the Louisville site:
Making a little news this week was West Virginia native Isaac McKneely . The 6-foot-4 combo guard narrowed his list down to eight, and Louisville was one of the teams to make the list.
Before McKneely narrowed things, I had heard that the Cardinals had put themselves in a pretty decent spot with him.
Early on this one had the vibe of a West Virginia lock, but now that doesn’t seem to be the case. Virginia has a connection to his high school coach, but so far they really haven’t pushed, and that seems to be allowing other schools to get in the mix pretty good.
Louisville and Indiana seem to be two schools to really monitor here. Both have done a good job of recruiting him, and he seems pretty interested in each.
Now if a school like North Carolina pushes, that is obviously something he will take a very close look at, but so far the Cardinals are in pretty solid shape.
I think a decision is down the road, but this is definitely a top target for Louisville and someone the coaching staff is putting significant time into recruiting.
I really wish we would go all in here, offer, and try to close things if he is receptive.
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We’re gonna regret how we’ve handled this I think
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Guess we are done with recruiting until April 15th. Hopefully some good 22’s will still be receptive by then.
We’re too busy wasting time with Keels. Over it!
Other schools are going to be prioritizing McKneely.
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Dont think we are neglecting McKneely. Jamie Oakes said there was no school recruiting him harder than UVA, McKneely knows how interested we are given the attention we are giving him versus any 2022 recruit, and he is not going to commit until he can take visits in the spring next year. But for us fans and the limited knowledge we have it may appear like a doom and gloom situation.
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