Kentucky-based guard Tay Kinney has already visited Indiana multiple times.
He came for Hoosier Hysteria last year, visited for a game during the 2023-24 season, and IU brought his high school team to Bloomington for their team camp in June.
There’s clear mutual interest between the Kinney and Indiana, who offered the 6-foot-2 point guard when he visited for the Penn State game. Although that may have been the low-point of the season for IU, the game still stands out to the national top-40 4-star guard in the class of 2026.
“It was still a great crowd and everything,” he told The Daily Hoosier.
Along with IU, Purdue, Xavier, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Xavier and Auburn are some of the main schools Kinney is hearing from this summer.
Assistant coach Brian Walsh is the main assistant Kinney talks to from Indiana. He’s had some conversations with head coach Mike Woodson as well.
Kinney said Mike Woodson watched all of his games when his Newport H.S. (Newport, Ky.) team played in Bloomington at the program’s team camp in June.
“He (Woodson) says I’m a top priority, and I should always have Indiana in my mind,” Kinney told TDH of Woodson’s message to him.
After multiple visits, what does he think of Indiana?
“I think it’s great,” he said. “They just put another guy in the league. The campus is nice, the arena is great. The staff is great. They treat me well every time I see them.”
Kinney also says he likes how Indiana plays a lot through high ball screens, a strength of his game. He’s looking forward to watching the Hoosiers play this season with new guards Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle, and plans to get back for a visit.
As a sophomore at Newport, Kinney averaged 17.5 points per game as a sophomore while shooting 48.4 percent from the field overall, including 41.4 percent on 3-pointers.
Playing for Wildcats Select on the Adidas Circuit and surrounded by high-end talent, Kinney’s instincts as a facilitator shine.
“I just realize once my teammates start going, I know I can get going myself,” he told TDH. “So if I get them going, we are going to be hard to beat.”
Below are Kinney’s highlights from the Adidas 3SSB Championships in Rock Hill, S.C.
For complete coverage of IU basketball recruiting, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
