Kon Knueppel, one of the top players in the 2024 class, chooses Duke

The ability to play basketball with grace, smarts and remarkable efficiency provided Wisconsin Lutheran’s Kon Knueppel with myriad college options.

Want to head west? USC and Stanford were interested.

Want to head south? Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams would take you in a heartbeat.

Want to head east instead? Tony Bennett of Virginia, Jim Larannaga of Miami and Duke's Jon Scheyer would gladly show you around their respective campuses.

Prefer to stay closer to home? Wisconsin’s Greg Gard and Marquette’s Shaka Smart might arm-wrestle for the right to coach you.

In the end, Scheyer and his staff won the protracted recruiting battle for one of the better players in the country and the state’s top player in the 2024 class when Knueppel announced Thursday on X (formerly Twitter) he will play for the Blue Devils.

“You try to pick out something or try defining his game,” Wisconsin Lutheran coach Ryan Walz said, “and he just does so many things well. He is just a basketball player.”

The decision by Knueppel is a blow to both Wisconsin and Marquette, which recruited Knueppel relentlessly.

Barring a late addition, UW will sign two players for the 2024 class – guard Daniel Freitag and wing Jack Robison, both from Minnesota.

MU has gotten commitments from two 2024 prospects: Damarius Owens and Royce Parham, now teammates at Western Reserve Academy in Ohio. The Golden Eagles are still in the mix for Matthew Hodge, a 6-8 forward from St. Rose (New Jersey) High School who recently made an official visit to MU.

The 6-foot-6 Knueppel averaged 19.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists as a junior to help Lutheran to a 23-5 record. He plays for Phenom University on the AAU circuit and this spring led the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) in scoring at 22.5 points per game. He shot 47.5% from three-point range.

Knueppel is an offensive threat from three-point range, can hit mid-range jumpers just as easily and is comfortable scoring on post-up moves.

“Just watching him play against that highest level of competition is where you can see him play point guard,” Walz said, referring to Knueppel’s play on the AAU circuit. “You can see him come off screens and shoot it. You can see him use ball screens. You can see him slide into the post to take advantage of a mismatch. You get to see the diversity of his game.”

Knueppel’s shot-making is what initially drew the attention of college coaches.

“When he was young and college coaches would come in and watch him in an open gym or whatever,” Walz said, “they would see him shoot and they would say: ‘Oh yeah.’

“They know what they are looking for and they could see it immediately. When you watch him shoot you see how fluid it is, how repeatable it is, how high the release is and how quickly he can get it off. It is one of the better strokes.”

Can Knueppel defend at a high level? Virginia’s Bennett no doubt believed Knueppel can defend. If you can’t defend you can’t play for Virginia. Walz has seen Knueppel grow as a defender.

“He has just improved his on-ball defense,” he said. “He understands angles and can stay in front of guys who are quicker than he is. And he is strong enough to play against guys are bigger than him.”

That improvement as a defender is but one piece of Knueppel’s overall growth, which resulted in so many quality scholarship offers.

“For me, it has been fun to watch how he has matured physically and mentally,” Walz said. “Not just about making plays, but understanding how good you are and that you believe you can make those plays, the confidence.

“It has been a steady pace of increase. You don’t look from year to year and (say): ‘Oh my goodness. He has gotten so much better at this.’

“It is just that every year he has gotten better in every area of his game.”