Illinois Basketball: Isaac McKneely hearing from Illini

The Illinois basketball coaching staff has been amazing when it comes to the recruiting game.

The ability to land big-time players is fun as a fan. Illinois has talent which is translating into victories on the basketball court. But Brad Underwood and Co. need to continue that great recruiting streak they are currently on. That is why landing someone like Isaac McKneely would be huge for the program.

McKneely is a 6-foot-4, 170-pound shooting guard from Poca High School and resides in Poca, West Virginia. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 46 player in the class of 2022 and the No. 9 shooting guard in the nation. He is also the best player in the state of West Virginia.

It might not seem like Illinois is in the mix for McKneely considering 247Sports has West Virginia as the Crystal Ball prediction and North Carolina State, Virginia and Indiana are the other three “warms” for the talented shooter. But the Illini are indeed one of the teams that continue to pursue McKneely.

According to Tipton Edits, the list of schools that are contacting McKneely “just about every day” includes North Carolina State, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Louisville, Purdue, Ohio State, Maryland, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Iowa and Illinois.

I love everything from McKneely’s game to his build. This kid is extremely smooth and plays with a calm to his game. He has great athletic ability, which enables him to get to the rim. But he can also hit shots from anywhere on the court. The first player that came to mind when watching McKneely is Jayson Tatum. They feel very similar to me.

Where would McKneely fit in on the Illinois roster?

Illinois is going to need more guard and wing talent when 2022 rolls around. We are losing a ton after the 2021-22 campaign. The Illini are going to need to replace Jacob Grandison and Austin Hutcherson, and they may need to replace Adam Miller and Andre Curbelo. That is pretty much our entire backcourt.

Luke Goode is the only stable guard we have for 2022. That means McKneely would have a great chance of coming into the Illinois program and start from day one. He could have as much playing time as he can get in Champaign.

It wouldn’t shock me to see the Illini pull in McKneely. We have had a great run on the east coast, and I think we have what this kid would want in a program. Let’s see how the coming months play out.