University of Virginia basketball commit Isaac McKneely kicked off his final go-round on the AAU circuit in Hampton (VA) this past weekend at the Southern Jam Fest. The Poca (W.V.) rising senior guard received some positive pub while helping Wildcat Select 3SSB to a 3-1 record.
ESPN reporter and New England Basketball Recruiting Report Founder Adam Finkelstein included McKneely on his night 1 top performers list. So did 247Sports National Basketball Recruiting Analyst Dushawn London, who praised the future Cavalier for his “shooting and playmaking” as well as defense, physicality and basketball IQ in this article following the first day of action.
A few highlights of McKneely (No. 10 in yellow) from this past weekend are in the video below. The 6’4”, 180-pound guard showcases his outside shooting, driving and finishing, and passing ability. The latter, McKneely has said previously, is an underrated part of his game.
Wildcat Select 3SSB (@wildcatselect ) – features high level guys out of Western PA, Ohio, West Virginia and surrounding areas !
– UVA Commit @IsaacMcKneely + more
– @nateperry_pgh @tdroney_wildcat @jwherron10 @TheHoopGroup pic.twitter.com/hjLjT3J5zB
— Commonwealth Basketball Group (@theCBGLive) May 23, 2021
McKneely made it back to West Virginia in time to receive the 2021 Bill Evans Award, an honor given to West Virginia’s top prep player. He averaged 21 points and almost four assists per game while leading the Poca Dots to the Class AA state championship game. As AAU starts up, McKneely is currently rated a 4-star prospect by Rivals and 247Sports. Rivals has him as the No. 57 overall prospect (No. 12 shooting guard) in his class, while 247Sports has him at No. 58 (No. 10 combo guard).
News On UVA Class Of 2022 Targets
Including McKneely, Virginia basketball has offered just five prospects so far in the class of 2022. The uncommitted targets include point guard Austin Nunez, wings Bobi Klintman and Justin Taylor, and Nebraska forward Isaac Traudt.
Taylor, a 6’6” standout out of St. Anne’s-Belfield (Charlottesville, VA), shined for Team Takeover (D.C.) during the Southern Jam Fest this past weekend. He led the Nike EYBL squad to a runner-up finish in Hampton and scored 20 points in the championship versus Team Final (PA), which is also an EYBL team.
Justin Taylor filled it up all weekend at Southern Jam Fest, helping Team Takeover to a runner-up finish. There’s something new to his game every time I watch him. He has visits set up with Virginia Tech, UNC, Syracuse, and Indiana during the first 3 weeks of June.@jctbball12 pic.twitter.com/wZ866EGO0G
— Trent Markwith (@TMarkwith14) May 24, 2021
In an April 23 interview with TheSabre.com, Taylor confirmed that he had scheduled June official visits to Virginia Tech, Syracuse and North Carolina, adding that he was discussing possible trips with Duke (no offer) and Indiana. Of UVA, Taylor said: “I haven’t heard anything from them about taking a visit. I’m sure I’ll hear from Coach Bennett sometime. Them offering me and Isaac McKneely first, that speaks a lot. That was one of the goals I worked for. I’ve heard from Coach Bennett some throughout the process. I think with the transfer portal, they’ve been busy. I think it has been hard on a lot of coaches. Me and Coach Bennett had a good conversation not too long ago.”
UVA is keeping in contact with Taylor; however, the level of contact he had with the Cavalier coaches did not seem as consistent as other targets, per his comments. So where does he stand with UVA and vice versa? He did tell Tipton Edits over the weekend that North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, Indiana and Virginia Tech were the schools recruiting him the hardest. He also discusses recruiting in this article by Jason Jordan of Sports Illustrated.
Nunez, a 6’2” rising senior point guard, played for Southern Assault in the The Circuit League over the weekend. Here are some notable tweets from his play in Dallas (TX).
No Plays Left Behind @theaustinunez #TheCircuitLeague @TheCircuitHoops
🎥 @ShotzByRon pic.twitter.com/8nb5JRT7lV— Michael Timmins (@iFilmHoopers) May 24, 2021
2021 Zineddine Bedri (Columbia commit) and 2022 Austin Nunez (in touch most often with Virginia, Arkansas & Oregon) were both 🔑 in the @AssaultSouthern win over Vegas Elite today at #TheCircuitLeague pic.twitter.com/UWHgaRIDjY
— Pro Insight™️ (@_proinsight) May 23, 2021
17U Standouts⏩#TheCircuitLeague
Amaree Abram
Mark Armstrong
Cam Corhen
Keyonte George
Rylan Griffen
Jalen Hood-Schifino
Vince Iwuchukwu
Chris Johnson
Dior Johnson
BB Knight
Amar Knox
Austin Nunez
Gabe Seat
Noah Shelby
AJ Storr
Yohan Traore
Josh Uduje
Cason Wallace
Jordan Walsh pic.twitter.com/0oJg7xd92u— Pro Insight™️ (@_proinsight) May 24, 2021
6’9” Isaac Traudt, who is off to a good start on the AAU circuit with Nebraska Supreme, told Tipton Edits that North Carolina, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Kansas, Creighton, Nebraska, Virginia, Oklahoma, Missouri and Ohio State are recruiting him the hardest. Traudt is scheduled to take an official visit to UVA the weekend of June 11-13, the same weekend Isaac McKneely will be on Grounds. He has set officials to Nebraska (June 4-6), Michigan State (June 17-19) and North Carolina (June 25-27) as well.
Appreciate the video @Brad____Fran pic.twitter.com/9CARQL9Vc4
— Isaac Traudt (@ittraudt) May 11, 2021
Murray Prepares For UVA Arrival
Taine Murray, a 6’5” wing out of New Zealand, will be enrolling on Grounds soon. The 4-star posted a video on Instagram of what he is doing to prepare for the start of his UVA career.
View this post on Instagram