Isaac McKneely, the 6’3 sophomore guard from Poca, is a four star recruit and the best West Virginia-born high school player since Kevin Pittsnogle. In fact, although Pittsnogle went on to incredible success at WVU, McKneely is probably better than he was in high school.
Make no mistake about it, it’s imperative for Bob Huggins to convince Isaac McKneely to stay home and come play for the West Virginia Mountaineers. Although Huggins doesn’t value keeping in-state talent in West Virginia like Neal Brown does, this is a player that Huggins just can’t miss on.
West Virginia doesn’t often have players like this come along and it’s incredibly important for future recruiting to keep the best home. McKneely has visited Morgantown and called his experience “amazing.” He’s built a relationship with Bob Huggins and many of the West Virginia players, and a commitment to play for the Mountaineers seems more and more likely every day.
Christian Kezmarsky of Basketball Player Development on Wildcat Select said of McKneely: “Knock down shooter, high level bounce, great decision maker. Multiple offers already and interest through the roof. #1 ranked player in the state of West Virginia.”
McKneely’s scholarship offer list currently includes Davidson, Liberty, Marshall, Robert Morris, Stetson, Xavier and most recently, West Virginia. 247 Sports has the Mountaineers listed as “Warm” on his interest level and all other schools as “Cool”, while Rivals FanFutureCast lists West Virginia as 100% likely to land him.
Although Bob Huggins’ offer came later than hoped, it had to have been incredibly meaningful to the West Virginia-born phenom. McKneely is only a sophomore and has a long road ahead of him, but hopefully that road leads up I-79 to his new home in Morgantown.
