University of Virginia men’s basketball head coach Tony Bennett has offered a scholarship to Grand Island High School (Grand Island, NE) forward Isaac Traudt. The consensus 4-star prospect took to Twitter to announce the news, which comes on the heels of a reported Zoom meeting he had with the Cavalier head coach.
Grateful to have received an offer from the University of Virginia!! #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/Di53u6UysB
— Isaac Traudt (@ittraudt) January 21, 2021
Traudt: “I was really excited after Coach Bennett extended me the offer. I think that I fit Virginia’s style of play really well and I’ve developed really good relationships with Coach Bennett and Coach Getter so far.”
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) January 21, 2021
Traudt has announced the following offers since June 15 last year: Nebraska, Creighton, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Stanford, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Purdue, Oregon, Iowa, Ole Miss, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette and Kansas. Offers from the Hoos, Jayhawks and Golden Eagles have come this month.
As a sophomore in 2019-20, Traudt averaged almost 17 points per game. His production has taken a significant step forward in 2020-21, as he averaged 26 points and 10 rebounds per game through Grand Island’s first seven games. The Islanders currently sit at 7-5.
Describing his game, the 6’9”, 205-pound junior told Jake Weingarten of Stock Risers in this article that he is “a 6’9 wing that can do a bit of everything offensively. I’m a good shooter and have a nice feel for the game. I’m getting better defensively and rebounding and becoming a better leader.”
In this local news report, Grand Island head boys varsity basketball coach Jeremiah Slough told Ben Brady of KSNB Channel 4 that Traudt is “coachable every single day. Eager to learn and he’s also incredible humble and he trusts his teammates a great deal.”
247Sports.com ranks Traudt as the no. 58 overall junior in the nation. Rivals has the skilled forward as the no. 66 overall prospect and the no. 8 power forward in the class of 2022.
Virginia has three known scholarships out in the class of 2022 – Traudt, Poca (WV) guard Isaac McKneely and St. Anne’s-Belfield (Charlottesville, VA) guard Justin Taylor. McKneely has the Hoos in his top eight schools, while Taylor and Traudt have yet to narrow their respective lists.
Virginia’s scholarship numbers for the 2022 Class are unclear. Trey Murphy III was expected to redshirt this season, and while he still could play two more seasons because the NCAA made 2020-21 a free year eligibility-wise, he could decide to leave after 2021-22. We also don’t know what Virginia will do recruiting-wise this spring. The Hoos remain in contention with Duke and Villanova for 5-star class of 2021 guard Trevor Keels and may still be in the mix with class of 2021 center Efton Reid, and the transfer market is always worth watching each spring.
Heading into the 2021-22 season, UVA’s 2022-23 season scholarship projection looked like this:
Point Guards: Reece Beekman (Jr)
Wings: Trey Murphy III (R-Sr), Casey Morsell (Sr), Jabri Abdur-Rahim (Jr), Carson McCorkle (Jr), Taine Murray (Soph)
Combo Forwards: Justin McKoy (Sr)
Posts: Papi Caffaro (R-Sr), Kadin Shedrick (R-Jr)
what about Kehei?
As I mentioned, the scholarship numbers/availability is unclear because of the pandemic. Kihei will have the opportunity to return in 2022 because of the NCAA’s decision to make this season a free one when it comes to eligibility. But will he? I’m not sure. Perhaps we will get more clarity on how Coach Bennett and certain players handle this free year of eligibility after this season is over.