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Virginia Guard Isaac McKneely Enters Portal, Still Considering Return to UVA

Matt Newton

Aaron Snyder
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Virginia junior guard Isaac McKneely entered the transfer portal on Monday morning (March 24th), as first reported by On3's Joe Tipton. The college basketball transfer portal officially opened on Monday and McKneely was among the first batch of names to enter the portal. According to the report from Tipton and others, McKneely is keeping open the option of returning to Virginia for his final year of eligibility.

As followers of UVA basketball are undoubtedly aware, McKneely immediately becomes one of the top players available in the transfer portal and perhaps the best three-point shooter. McKneely led the ACC and ranked in the top 25 in the nation in three-point shooting percentage this season at 42.1% on 7.5 attempts per game. He shot 44.5% from beyond the arc last season and is a 42.2% shooter from three-point range for his career. Through three seasons at UVA, McKneely ranks fifth in total three-pointers made in UVA men's basketball history with 233 made triples, trailing only Harold Deane (237), Kyle Guy (254), Joe Harris (263), and Curtis Staples (413). His career 42.2% three-point percentage currently ranks second in Virginia program history, trailing only Kyle Guy (42.5%).

McKneely has been in Virginia's regular rotation since the moment he stepped on Grounds, appearing in 33 games as a first year and starting nearly every game after that for a total of 66 starts and 98 games played. This season, McKneely averaged 14.4 points per game (career-high), 2.9 assists per game (career-high), and shot a career-high 43.9% from the floor in addition to his ACC-leading three-point percentage.

Per a report from 247Sports' Travis Branham, McKneely is in the transfer portal with a "Do Not Contact" tag, which means that he is going to select the schools with which he would like to communicate and does not want any other coaches or programs to reach out.

While that decision sometimes means that the transferring player has already informally decided where he wants to go, that doesn't necessarily fit this scenario since McKneely seems to be open to returning to Virginia. It could be a decision driven by the fact that nearly every major conference program in college basketball would likely give McKneely a call if he didn't have the "No Contact" tag.

With that said, the programs that are permitted to make offers to McKneely are going to make it extremely difficult for Virginia to get him to stick around. He is a proven three-point shooter with a ton of experience and the ability to plug and play as an elite catch-and-shoot threat in essentially any style of offense. McKneely could end up returning to his home state of West Virginia, but it's just as likely that a national contender makes him an NIL offer that he can't refuse. This will be a big initial challenge for Ryan Odom and the Cavaliers to try and get him to stick around and finish his career in Charlottesville.

Isaac McKneely is the third Virginia player to enter the transfer portal, as sophomore center Blake Buchanan and sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames made known their intentions to enter the portal last week.

Stay up to date on all the latest Virginia basketball transfer portal activity, including outbound transfers from the current roster and UVA's effort to pursue players in the portal, here: Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal: Latest News and Updates

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Questions for UVA Basketball Coach Ryan Odom: A New Chapter Begins

Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal: Latest News and Updates

UVA Basketball Roster Turnover Prediction: What to Expect This Offseason

Report: Virginia Guard Dai Dai Ames Plans to Enter Transfer Portal

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.