Tennessee basketball missed out on one of its top targets in the transfer portal on Thursday afternoon when Virginia shooting guard Isaac McKneely committed to Louisville.
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard announced his commitment to the Cardinals just two days after his visited Tennessee. McKneely visited Louisville shortly before his visit to Tennessee and also had interests from North Carolina. McKneely spent the first three seasons of his college career at Virginia and was highly effective both in his sophomore and junior seasons. He averaged 14.4 points, 2.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game for the Cavaliers this past season.
One of the best shooters in the country, McKneely made 101 three-pointers in his junior season at an impressive 42% clip. McKneely is one of just 14 players nationally that made 100 three-pointers last season. Only six of those players did so at a higher percentage than McKneely.
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McKneely is rated as one of the best players in the transfer portal. 247sports ranks McKneely as a four-star transfer and the No. 14 player in the portal while EvanMiya ranks McKneely as a five-star transfer and the No. 27 player in the portal.
Tennessee is looking to replace Chaz Lanier’s offensive production from a season ago and and McKneely was the Vols’ top plan. McKneely’s skillset is similar to Lanier’s and Virginia used the shooting guard off of ball screens similarly to how Tennessee used Lanier.
Rick Barnes and his staff are in hot pursuit of Maryland transfer point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and also has interest in Robert Morris power forward Alvaro Folgueiras and Lincoln Memorial forward Elyjah Freeman.
With the Vols returning just four scholarship players and one scholarship guard from last season’s roster, Tennessee will look to add more perimeter play and particularly shooting in the portal in place of McKneely.
