Prospect Profile: Wayne McKinney (2021 Lake Oswego HS)
Since he wasn’t seen around town much this summer, it might be easy to forget about Wayne McKinney. But make no mistake, the athletic 5-foot-10, 175-pound point guard from Lake Oswego wasn’t just lounging around. While he was with his family down in Southern California, McKinney was working out and playing AAU basketball with a team down there and it was a solid off-season for him.
McKinney played his club basketball with one of the younger teams of Coastal Elite Slayers and it was time well spent. “It was good competition,” McKinney said. “I feel like I played pretty well as a leader on my team. I took a lot of time getting better on my shooting. I’m still working on not necessarily with the ball, but just talking. I need to focus more on my off-ball things.”
With school having started, McKinney is back in town and he’s looking really good. At the first open gym of the fall, McKinney was dominant not only with his athleticism and quickness, but showed off a smooth pull-up and step-back jumper as well as some crisp passing on the break. He’ll further get a chance to show off his skills at this weekend’s Prime Time Top 40 Showcase.
It’s still early for McKinney when it comes to college recruiting but word has gotten around about his abilities as coaches from both Portland and Concordia were in attendance to watch him perform. As far as McKinney is concerned, he has thought about the college level a little bit and there’s one school that has emerged as an early favorite.
“I like San Diego State – it’s a pretty good school and the coaching staff is good,” McKinney said. “I’m really looking at academics because that’s going to take me further than where basketball goes.”
There are still a few years before things get serious with his recruitment so McKinney is instead looking ahead to his sophomore season at Lake Oswego – where he has high expectatios. “State championship – that’s my goal,” McKinney said. “Everything else will just fall into place.”
McKinney currently ranks as the #5 player in the PrepHoops Class of 2021 Rankings.