Matt McKinney's prowess in basketball and volleyball earns him a scholarship to UCLA

PREP BASKETBALL PREVIEW

12/4/01

By DAN SHIELLS

NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Matt McKinney can play volleyball. He knows it and everyone else knows it. He's considered one of the top two or three -- many say the best -- high school prospects in the country.

McKinney, a 6-foot-8 senior for Santa Ynez High, plans to continue playing volleyball. He loves the feeling he gets when he uses his 36-inch vertical jump to sky over the net and pound a spike so hard that it seems to make the hardwood reverberate with his power.

"This year, we're going to rename him SportsCenter," said Pirate coach Chip Fenenga. "He's just going to be a highlight film."

Many say he is good enough to make the 2004 Olympic team.

But McKinney's success in volleyball has come with a price. It has overshadowed his talent in basketball. And basketball, not volleyball, is McKinney's No. 1 passion in sports.

"I love basketball," he said. "My whole life I played basketball. I never played volleyball until high school. I like volleyball but, plain and simple, I like basketball more."

As great as a straight-down spike is, he explained, nothing compares to the exhilaration of a slam dunk in basketball. "When you dunk on someone, that's the greatest feeling ever," said McKinney.

McKinney knows the feeling well. He had more than 40 dunks last year while averaging 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates. He made the all-county team for a second straight year and drew the attention of college scouts everywhere.

In the summer, he played for Pump 'n Run, a star-studded traveling all-star team, and mixed it up with some of the best basketball prospects in the country. Playing wing on a team that included Brad Buckman of Texas, a projected McDonald's All-American, Nick Caner-Medley, who has signed with Maryland, C. J. Watson, who has signed with Tennessee, McKinney averaged 16 points while playing in a handful of elite tournaments. Dave Padgett, the 6-foot-11 son of former UCSB assistant Peter Padgett and one of the top big-man prospects in the country, was also on the team.

"I showed I could play at that level," said McKinney. But when you're the No. 1 or No. 2 volleyball recruit in the country and being talked about as an Olympic team member, it's not something you just give up, so McKinney made it clear he was looking for a place to play both sports.

That caused some of the top basketball programs to shy away. There are many high school athletes who are recruited in both volleyball and basketball but very few have ever successfully played both for a major college.

"I think that people get so much of their (recruiting) news second-hand and from the Internet that they just don't bother to ask themselves," said Santa Ynez basketball coach Cris Avery. "If anyone asked Matt, he'd tell them he wanted to play basketball."

An exception was UCSB. The Gauchos were hot on McKinney's trail with an offer for a basketball scholarship that included the freedom to play volleyball. NCAA rules prevent a player from playing basketball who is on a volleyball scholarship, but not the other way around.

Jay Hanseth transferred to UCSB from Santa Monica College and started two years for the basketball team 1973-74, then played two seasons with the Gauchos in volleyball. He later became a pro beach volleyball player. UCSB offered McKinney a chance to play close to home and play basketball at a level where he could step right in.

"UCSB was definitely the leader," said Harry McKinney, Matt's father.

Still, when UCLA volleyball coach Al Scates asked to come up for a visit, McKinney could hardly refuse.

"They've won 18 NCAA titles, something like that," he said. "I hadn't really considered UCLA because I didn't want to play only volleyball, but I figured I had to hear what they had to say."

What McKinney didn't expect was for UCLA basketball coach Steve Lavin to accompany Scates on his visit.

"Coach Scates called Matt and asked if he could bring a guest," said Avery.

"I had no idea (Lavin) was coming until I saw him in the car in front of the house," said McKinney.

Lavin talked about UCLA and asked McKinney, point-blank, if he had to pick one sport, what would it be. McKinney answered basketball. A match was made. "Growing up in the Los Angeles area (Woodland Hills, until sixth grade), it had always been a dream to play basketball for UCLA," said McKinney.

Scates sealed the deal by going over the volleyball schedule and showing how McKinney could fit in both sports.

McKinney's volleyball credentials were obvious. But some wondered whether he could fit into a basketball program at a high national level. The Pirates have won six CIF volleyball titles, including two straight with McKinney as a key player, and will be favored to win another this spring. The basketball team's last title was the Tri-Valley League championship in 1987.

"We are not a basketball hotbed," said Avery. "There aren't any agents hanging around the playgrounds waiting to make offers. There isn't a strong developmental feeder program for the the high school. There's no middle school because all the kids go to five different K-8 schools."

In other words, there aren't a lot of high-level pick-up games at the local park or rec center, the way there are in Los Angeles. McKinney's upside in basketball, said Avery, is as high as his vertical jump. McKinney's father and uncle both played college basketball at Tennessee Tech and both grew an inch or two after high school. Harry predicts his son will top out at 6-9 or 6-10.

"The basketball program is getting a special athlete who won't threaten to leave if they don't play him in the first couple of years," said Avery. "The volleyball team is getting someone who can step right in as one of the better players in the country."

McKinney is eager to get started. "I think that once I go down there and start playing all the time, it's going to make a big difference," he said. "I'll go down in the summer and play volleyball on the beach with the other guys and Scates is fine with that."

McKinney also talked to two former Pirates playing for UCLA teams, volleyball star Chris Pena and freshman offensive lineman Matt Mosebar.

"They both said a change in sports would be a good thing," said McKinney. "I haven't had a chance to really devote myself to basketball. But it's nice to know I have volleyball to fall back on."