Top 20 Kon Knueppel breaks down Notre Dame and Virginia officials; talks future visits
Kon Knueppel is the No. 16 player in the 2024 On3 150. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard led Nike’s EYBL Circuit in scoring this spring, averaging 22.5 points on 46.7 percent shooting from three.
“I play really hard, that comes first,” Knueppel told On3. “I can shoot. The scouting report would be not to let me get to my spots and shoot. I just want to win; that is always my team’s goal, whatever it takes. This EYBL season, my team needed me to score, but winning is the goal. I love watching Luke Doncic, minus the complaining to the refs. I love watching how he gets things done.”
On3 caught up with four-star Kon Knueppel after a recent live viewing to talk recruitment.
Knueppel talks official visits
“I’ve taken three official visits, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Virginia,” Knueppel said. “They’re great guys over there, but I probably won’t be going to Stanford.”
Notre Dame: “I visited when Mike Brey was still the coach. I really liked the campus. It was a really cool place. There is a lot of history there, and I kind of like that about a campus. I plan to go see them again in August. They hired Coach (Kyle) Getter, who was recruiting me at Virginia. Coach (Micah) Shrewsberry is an NBA guy, so there is a lot of player development stuff there. There are a lot of opportunities to play early on with the new staff there.”
Virginia: “Coach (Tony) Bennett is awesome. A great guy, a really top-notch guy. All the people over there are really good people. They play really hard, and you can tell they all play for their coach. That is something I do for sure. They share the ball, play the right way, and play great defense. That’s something that’s really admirable.”
Knueppel talks recruitment
“I have visits set with Louisville (June 18) and Ohio State (June 12),” Knueppel said. “I plan to go visit Wisconsin and Marquette as well.”
Louisville: “Player development is big for me. Kenny Payne that is what he is known for, and that is what they preach to me. I just think it would be a good idea to check it out, see what all they have to offer over there.”
Ohio State: “Coach (Chris) Holtmann has done a really good job with those guys over there. They had a little bit of a down year with a young squad, but they’ve consistently been competing in the Big Ten for the last five or six years since he’s been there. They’re a big-time player development place, too, especially for guards, and really I just want to keep getting better.”
Wisconsin: “Being the hometown hero there, that’s really intriguing. They have a great program, and they think I fit really well into how they play, and a lot of others also say I fit how they play.”
Marquette: “They’re really competitive, and I like that about them. Shaka (Smart) is a great coach, and they’re coaching staff is on their players every day. They’re always trying to get the team better, and they have a great program. I think they’re going to be really good for a long time.”
In Knueppel’s words
“I’d like to commit to a school before my high school season starts,” Knueppel said.
“I’m going to be looking for a place that I can better, a place that I will have the opportunity to play right away. Winning will be big for me, too. I want to play for a team that will win. I can fit into a lot of different styles of play. Obviously, there are some things that are better about different programs, but I’ll look at all that, but I don’t think any one style or program sticks out with that.”
The family buisness
Kon Knueppel’s mother, Chari (Nordgaard) Knueppel, is Wisconsin Green Bay’s all-time leading scorer with 1,954 career points. His dad, also Kon Knueppel, scored over 2,000 career points at Wisconsin Lutheran College, where he was named second-team All-American. Kon Knueppel and his brothers, Klay, Klint, and Kole, made up the ‘Flying Knueppel Brothers,’ who won National Hoop it Up and Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournaments in the early 2000s. His uncle, Jeff Nordgaard, was a second-round pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1996.