UVA Basketball: Kyle Guy is back on Grounds, and he has an important job to do

I don’t think it’s going too far to call Kyle Guy a UVA Basketball legend. Three free throws on a Saturday evening in April in Minneapolis a few years back cemented the legend.

Guy, at 27, is back on Grounds, sooner than he should be, his pro career having surprisingly fizzled out early.

Tony Bennett created a spot on his staff for Guy, who will be a special assistant this year as he works to finish his undergraduate degree.

Job #1 for Guy will be elevating the game of junior guard Isaac McKneely, whose career arc at UVA has a lot in common with his new mentor.

“It’s been super special having Kyle back. I always watched him playing when I was getting recruited and all that, watched highlights of the national championship run. It’s kind of surreal to have him back,” McKneely told reporters at this week’s ACC Basketball Tipoff in Charlotte.

McKneely is UVA’s leading returning scorer, after averaging 12.3 points per game on 40.9 percent shooting from the field and 44.5 percent shooting from three as a sophomore in 2023-2024.

Guy, as it happens, was the leading returning scorer going into his junior year at UVA, averaging 14.1 points per game on 41.5 percent shooting from the field and 39.2 percent shooting from three.

Guy’s junior year was the national championship year. Playing alongside Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter, Guy went on to average 15.4 points per game that season, while improving on his shooting numbers – to 44.9 percent from the floor overall and 42.6 percent from three.

The key to that growth: he added a third level to his offensive game.

As a freshman, per Synergy Sports data, Guy was 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) on shots at the rim, all layups; by his junior season, in 2018-2019, Guy was a more than respectable 45-of-76 (59.2 percent) at the rim, and three of the makes were dunks.

The ability to put the ball on the floor makes a shooter like a Guy or a McKneely that much more dangerous coming off the screens that are the backbone of Bennett’s offense.

This is where McKneely has work to do. Last season, McKneely was 8-of-31 on shots at the rim, all layups.

Where this comes into play in terms of the evolution of McKneely’s game is, McKneely actually had better numbers on catch-and-shoots (84-of-176, 47.7 percent last season) than Guy did in his breakout junior season in 2018-2019 (115-of-274, 42.0 percent).

You can imagine how much more efficient McKneely could be if defenders, in catch-and-shoot situations, had to have, in the back of their minds, the idea that he might blow by them if they decide to sell out on a hard closeout.

As it is, with McKneely being awful on the relative few attempts he makes at the rim, and not much better on dribble jumpers (30-of-97, 30.9 percent), you can treat him in the scouting report like a one-trick pony, and close out hard, and with impunity.

The advantage that McKneely should have going for him is his size – he’s listed at 6’4”, 195, three inches taller and 20-plus pounds heavier than Guy, whose NBA career never took off almost entirely because he just wasn’t big enough to be a two guard in the league.

“Well, obviously he was in his prime really playing-wise,” Bennett told reporters at the ACC Tipoff event, before recounting his initial conversation with Guy about returning to Grounds.

“One of his desires, when we had an opening on our staff, was, you know, he and I kind of talked, and I said, You can make a ton of money, you can play. He said, No, first, I want to get my degree. He left after his third year, which is about the right stuff. He said, I really feel like my gift or where I’m at my best version of myself is when I’m mentoring,” Bennett said.

At 27, and coming off averaging 10.2 points per game on 42.8 percent shooting from the field and 34.5 percent shooting from three with two teams in the EuroLeague in 2023-2024, Guy’s most immediate contribution is as a practice and scrimmage beast.

“We get him in practice, just ask these guys, when he gets going in practice, you remember, wow, he’s so nice, he’s so pleasant, and then all of a sudden, you can just see something switch,” Bennett said.

“He gets going in practice,” McKneely agreed. “We’ll trash-talk him a little bit just to try to get him going. Then he gets super-competitive.”

The more important part to Guy’s new job this season will be working with guys like McKneely, Andrew Rohde, Taine Murray, Ishan Sharma – perimeter shooters in the mold of Guy.

“He helps us competition-wise, but he is doing a ton of stuff with skill development,” Bennett said. “Even for Taine and Isaac and the other guys, just for a guy who has been in that space who understands it, who has dealt with the ups and downs of college athletics, I think it’s terrific.

“Really cool to see him back,” Bennett said. “We have Isaiah Wilkins as well who played for me, Chase Coleman, three recent players that are part of our staff. They can relate with these younger guys better than an old guy like me, so it all works.”

Kyle Guy was the little brother in the locker room when he was in the UVA uniform a few years back.

Now he’s the big brother to guys like McKneely.

“It’s been really good for me and Taine’s development just getting to go against him in practice and the individual workouts outside of practice. It’s been really good. I’m thankful to have him back,” McKneely said.

“He’s just an even better person,” McKneely said. “Aside from basketball, he’s just a guy you can hang out with and talk to. He’s been here, done that, so it’s a good resource to have for sure.