Scouting Tennessee's Top 2024 Targets: Tyler McKinley
With spring AAU wrapping up, it's only fitting that we continue to evaluate Tennessee's targets in the 2024 class. While it has been mentioned before that Rick Barnes and his staff are being more selective with only so many open roster spots, they do have some names they've made priorities and clearly like.
Tyler McKinley released his top seven earlier this week, so it's about time we look at the forward out of Link Academy. One of the things that's difficult about the current climate of high school basketball, is that some prep schools are so loaded that it's hard to get much of a feel for some prospects. I had this problem with McKinley who played for the top high school team in the nation this past season. He was behind a couple of future SEC forwards in terms of minutes including Cade Phillips who will be playing for the Vols next season. With that being said, I have some takeaways from what I saw out of McKinley.
Let's start with the positives. McKinley moves well for a 6'9 forward. While he didn't make an impact in transition (Elliott Cadeau is a one-man show), it was clear he knew how to correctly fill lanes so that the floor was properly spaced. He also showcased some pretty solid footwork that led to a couple of buckets in the post. He is technically listed as a center on 247Sports, but he is definitely undersized at the position. Luckily, Barnes has had undersized post players at Tennessee and he could probably make McKinley work. However, the size can't be ignored. On another positive note, McKinley appears to have good hands when going up for rebounds and catching passes in the post.
It's hard to knock a guy who isn't a super active player even when he's on the floor, but one thing I noticed with McKinley is his main weakness isn't really something he can control. He's not super athletic, which he doesn't have to be in order to be an effective player. It might just limit the ceiling he has as a player in general. McKinley will be impactful with his IQ and coordination. He really is not what people would call a modern big, but improving his jump shot could be something that molds him into more of one. Overall, I think he could be a solid role player at Tennessee. He's never a guy you're going to want to feature in your offense no matter where he goes, but there's also only one basketball in a game. Not everyone has to be a scorer or facilitator, but there are definitely other important roles McKinley can play.
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