Recruiting Report: McKinley Wright (2017)
Over the weekend Champlin Park/D1 Minnesota point guard McKinley Wright spent nearly three full days on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Wright spoke with GI after the camp about his time with the coaches, recent trip to Dayton,…
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Continue ReadingOver the weekend Champlin Park/D1 Minnesota point guard McKinley Wright spent nearly three full days on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Wright spoke with GI after the camp about his time with the coaches, recent trip to Dayton, and where he could potentially visit next.
Wright’s Rebels went 6 for 6 over the weekend beating the likes of Class AA favorite Minnehaha Academy, Class A defending champion Minneapolis North, and others. Friday he came to the camp early and spent all day with the Gopher team and coaches.
“Nothing was really new to me as far as Minnesota goes, but I have a great relationship with the players and the coaching staff and that’s something that’ll play along in my decision,” Wright told GI.
“The coaches are very cool outside of basketball, and they care about me as a person. The program is also moving in the right direction. So that’s a plus. They are also building a new facility as well.”
The Gopher staff is selling that fact that Wright can stay home and play in front of family, as well as friends made since McKinley moved to the Twin Cities from Arizona around three years ago.
“Coach Richard Pitino talked about how he thinks I can make an impact on the program and help others come to Minnesota. How important it is to play in front of friends and family and what kind of opportunity it is.”
Dayton is one of the biggest challengers trying to pull McKinley Wright away from his current hometown and after a recent unofficial visit the Flyers seem to be in a good position.
“I had an amazing visit at Dayton,” said Wright. “I really liked the campus and dorms they were showing me, also the gym is open 24 hours so I can get a workout in whenever. Another thing that stood out to me is that they’ve been in the NCAA tournament the last 4 years so that’s impressive!”
McKinley has been to both Minnesota and Dayton for recent visits and was to go to Iowa State a couple weeks ago but the trip has to be rescheduled. What other schools would like Wright to see their campus?
“I’ve talked with Iowa State, Xavier, Dayton, Texas, Nebraska, Memphis, and Illinois about visits but no dates have been set yet though,” McKinley said.
Wright also recently mentioned (just less than a month ago) that he is hearing from Xavier, Dayton, Minnesota, and Iowa State “pretty much every day”.
Through 24 games D1 Minnesota is 23-1 and ranked second in the country at the 17U level.
Wright is not only leading highly talented team at lead guard but also giving them 11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.5 steals a game shooting 56.7 percent from the floor, making 74 percent of his foul shots, and hitting a third of his treys.