UC basketball commit Tyler McKinley to finish senior year at Winton Woods

FOREST PARK – After playing one season at Link Academy in Branson, Missouri, University of Cincinnati 2024 commit Tyler McKinley will finish up his senior year of high school at Winton Woods. Family members confirmed the move Monday.

The four-star 6-9, 220-pound power forward committed to the Bearcats in early June. He was able to display his skills on a national level at Link Academy and was invited to the FIBA U19 Men's National Team training camp in Colorado Springs in June.

Hometown hardwood

McKinley will play for Mike Pilgrim, a one-time UC Bearcat under Bob Huggins. His first two seasons of high school ball were played at Walnut Hills for Ricardo Hill (now at Indian Hill). That's when the Bearcats zeroed in on McKinley and won him over by coming to his early morning workouts.

Then-coach Hill said UC started the foundation of their relationship by greeting McKinley at 6 a.m.

Said McKinley," I got there and there was like six cars in the parking lot. They showed up as a staff. That showed me I was a priority."

McKinley has won ECC hardware before

At Walnut Hills, McKinley averaged 10.7 points and 6.5 rebounds as a freshman pivot, then returned as a sophomore to win ECC Offensive Player of the Year averaging 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds. In going to Winton Woods, McKinley returns to the Eastern Cincinnati Conference where he led Walnut Hills to back-to-back league titles.

Winton Woods is coming off of a 9-14 (7-9 ECC) season with Pilgrim taking over the Warriors this season. The move not only gets McKinley closer to family but puts him less than 10 miles and roughly 22 minutes from his future UC Bearcat coaches.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC Bearcat commit Tyler McKinley will play senior year at Winton Woods