What Isaac McKneely Brings to Louisville

An already incredibly busy day for the Louisville men's basketball program got even busier on Thursday.

One day after landing former Xavier guard Ryan Conwell, and two days removed from getting former Kennesaw State guard Adrian Wooley, the Cardinals once again struck gold in the portal, with former Virginia guard Isaac McKneely also opting to become the next Card.

The 6-foot-4, 195-pound guard was one of the best sharpshooters in the ACC. Starting in all 32 games for the Cavaliers, he averaged 14.4 points, 2.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game, while also shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 42.1 percent on three-point attempts.

Not only did he lead the Hoos in scoring, his three-point shooting percentage led the ACC, while his made (101) and attempted (240) threes trailed only Louisville's own Reyne Smith for best in the league. He earned an All-ACC honorable mention for his efforts.

A former four-star prospect coming out of college, the Poca, W. Va. native played in every game for UVA as a true freshman, then became a regular starter as a sophomore. During his three seasons in Charlottesville, McKneely totaled 1,089 points, 259 rebounds and 169 assists.

But beyond his stat lines, what else does McKneely bring to the table for the Cardinals?

It might be a bit of an over-simplification to call McKneely this season's Reyne Smith, but that's pretty much what he is. Regardless of where he is on the perimeter, McKneely is a certified sniper.

He doesn't have as quick of a release as Smith had, but it's still fairly quick. He's got a good jump shot overall, and typically puts a high amount of arc on the ball when he lets it fly. Additionally, he does not need much room at all to get a shot off, and can still shoot at a high caliber in tight spaces. In fact, he can still connect on threes consistently when in motion or fading away/off balance, and has made a handful when outright fouled.

Without a doubt, McKneely's bread-and-butter is shooting threes when coming off of a screen. He's a little bit better at it when not the ball handler and in a catch-and-shoot situation (67 EFG percentage), but he still shoots it at a very high caliber when he's off the dribble (56 EFG percentage). McKneely isn't super adept at creating his own space for a shot, but he has broken out an effective pull up jumper from time-to-time.

McKneely certainly has a spot on the floor where he prefers to shoot threes, as he connected on an absurd 52 percent on his tries from the left corner. He also shot 40 percent from the right side above the break and 39 percent from the left side, so fortunately, defenses can't just deny him the left corner and it's problem solved. Like Conwell, he's also a deep three specialist, hitting 20 treys from 25 feet or deeper.

There's no doubt that McKneely is a volume shooter (and for good reason), but he's one of the more efficient in all of college basketball. Of the 139 players in D1 hoops to attempt at least 200 threes this season's, his 42.1 three-point percentage is 19th, as well as third among power conference players.

While the three ball is without a doubt what makes McKneely such a deadly weapon, there are good aspects of his game inside the arc. While this likely won't be utilized much due to Kelsey's system, McKneely has a good turnaround and step back midrange shot. He has shown flashes of above average ability to drive to the rim and finish with both hands, but considering he shot just 20-of-44 in the paint, he likely won't be asked to do this much unless wide open.

McKneely is undoubtedly an off-ball guard, but he has moments where he can be a playmaker. He's by no means a super flashy or quick passed, but he's fundamentally solid, and can actually make good bounce passes to the post and dump offs on the drive. Most importantly, he rarely puts the ball in harms way. Not only did he average just 1.5 turnovers per game, his turnover rate of 12.9 was the 19th-lowest of the 81 D1 players to play at least 86 percent of their team's minutes.

He's known more so for his offensive capabilities, but that's not at the complete cost of his defense. Sure, McKneely isn't a defensive mastermind, but he was able to hold his own for the most part.

Overall, this is an extremely important pickup for Louisville. We saw first-hand just how important a three-point specialist is in Pat Kelsey's offense, especially when Reyne Smith was and was not on the floor, and McKneely is essentially going to be stepping into that role for the 2025-26 season. Combine him with the other guards on the team, and there's no doubt that UofL has the best backcourt in college basketball.

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