Recruiting Report: Mike Knoll (2019)
Before playing a national schedule in July with Darius Miller Elite (formerly known as All Ohio Cincinnati), 6’7” forward Mike Knoll (2019) traveled to various team camps with Buckeye High School in June.
“My high school, we went up to the Eastern Ohio Camp — the [Bob] Huggins camp,” Knoll said. “Then we had the [Baldwin Wallace] camp, the Wooster shoot out, the Ashland shoot out, and also the Denison shoot out. And we did pretty well in all of those.”
The camps were picked strategically by the Buckeye coaching staff, who told Knoll that they would visit schools interested in recruiting him.
“BW said they were going to be recruiting me real hard. Malone was at Denison. I think Denison also. Ashland. And then Wittenberg, I’m not sure if they were recruiting me, but they were at Denison and they were talking to me. I think there were a couple others I can’t name off the top of my head,” Knoll said, when asked who has shown interest.
Knoll is yet to find time for campus visits because of his busy two-sport schedule. He will also start at quarterback for Buckeye next season after spending a year split out at receiver last fall. He’s open to the opportunity of playing either sport collegiately. Ultimately, it will come down to offers, the people, facilities, and finding a good pre-med or exercise science program.
For July, he’ll look to attract more eye balls as Darius Miller Elite heads to Georgia and Las Vegas.
Knoll slid under the radar for us before this past spring. For those unfamiliar, he is a fluid 6’7” kid that rebounds and stretches the floor with his jumper. Knoll also has the ability to attack the rim from the high post and on straight-line drives from the arch.
“I’m usually guarded by a center. So I can shoot as well. I can space the floor out and do pick-and-pop or do pick-and-rolls,” Knoll said.
Scoring and ball-handling are his areas of focus going into next season.
Defensively, he has upside as a player who can defend multiple positions and protect the rim when needed. He covers a decent range on that end because of his light feet. Knoll is also obviously tall, the prerequisite for rim-protection.
He heads into senior year with a 3.0 GPA and score of 18 on the ACT. Knoll tells us he pulled in a 3.9 as a junior and is motivated to keep raising that number. He’s also unsatisfied with his ACT score and will surely re-take the test.
Ohio programs sending a coach to tournaments that Darius Miller Elite is at should check out Knoll. Our guess is that his stock will continue to build as a senior at Buckeye, when Northeast Ohio schools can watch him frequently. So now is the time to build an early relationship with the skilled forward.