McKinney picks Missouri
What was long expected as a possibility is now reality: Mario McKinney will be a Missouri Tiger.
Missouri kicked off Cuonzo Martin's third recruiting class Monday with a commitment from McKinney, an athletic, rangy guard from Vashon High School in St. Louis. Ranked No. 125 in the most recent Rivals150, McKinney is now the the sixth top-150 recruit in Martin's two-plus years at Missouri, joining Michael Porter Jr., Jontay Porter, Jeremiah Tilmon, C.J. Roberts, Blake Harris and Torrence Watson.
Considered a strong Mizzou lean for quite some time, McKinney, whose cousin Jimmy played at Missouri under Quin Snyder, moved up a visit to Columbia that was planned for mid-October to Sept. 8, joining fellow 2019 St. Louis-area target E.J. Liddell. He was scheduled to visit Kansas State but never made the trip to Manhattan before ultimately committing to Martin and Co.
https://twitter.com/boog341/status/1044367164122312704?s=21
As a junior this past season at Vashon, McKinney averaged 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals per game, teaming up with 2020 Missouri target Cam'Ron Fletcher. He played alongside Liddell and former targets Terrence Hargrove Jr. and Francis Okoro this summer for Brad Beal Elite, where he struggled early in the summer before rebounding with an impressive July. In 21 EYBL games, McKinney averaged 10 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
"Mario actually had a really good July, and he played a lot better in July," Brad Beal Elite coach Corey Frazier said last month. "He showed people he can shoot the ball with consistency and take better shots. We know he’s super-athletic, but he showed he can put the ball on the floor a little better. He’s continuously working on that, but I think he helped himself by showing he can knock down jump shots."
McKinney's commitment gets Missouri on the board after a month that saw the Tigers lose out on two of their top priorities: top-40 guard Rocket Watts, who committed to Michigan State, and top-100 wing Tray Jackson, who committed to Minnesota after a visit this two weekends ago.
It also leaves one major target left on Missouri's recruiting board for the November signing period: the aforementioned Liddell. After visiting Ohio State three weeks ago, Liddell visited along with McKinney, who he's played basketball with since grade school. Former Edwardsville guard and Illinois transfer Mark Smith was Liddell's host, part of the Tigers' pitch to join a growing list of St. Louis players on the roster.
Liddell visited Illinois this past weekend and is thought to be closing in on a decision in the next week or two. In July, McKinney said the two had discussed being a package deal, but Frazier said if the two ended up at the same school, it would be because both decided it was best from them individually.
"If one goes, he’s making a decision for himself rather than doing it as a package deal. There were talks of it early on, but I think now it’s more so ‘We both have to do what’s best for us than playing together,’" Frazier said. "Situations change, and you don’t want to go for somebody else because if you’re not happy and they are, it can be a pretty miserable thing. I think they’re both making decisions for themselves."
McKinney's commitment gives Missouri 11 scholarship players in 2019, with the possibility that walk-on Parker Braun could become the 12th.
