As a lot of 2022 recruits are finding out this month over the course of their travels, virtual visits can only do but so much. Four-star wing Isaac Traudt could’ve taken part in a number of additional Zoom meetings with Tony Bennett and his staff and still never have gotten a true feel for the people and the facilities.

Last weekend, he did. And it left a lasting impression.

“I was looking forward to quite a bit,” the 6-foot-9 forward told CavsCorner. “Definitely meeting Coach Bennett and the staff in person, hanging out with Isaac McKneely and the players there right now, I was looking forward to that. And seeing the facilities and campus were two other things I was really looking forward to.”

Having McKneely in town as well when Traudt was there was good not only for the Nebraska native but also for his family, as they got to know the McKneelys well.

The chance to be a part of “Isaac Squared” as it has been called is something Traudt is obviously considering.

“Yeah, it’s definitely been fun,” he said with a laugh. “He’s a great kid, comes from a great family too. Being around him this weekend was definitely a lot of fun and hopefully I’ll be able to see him again soon.”

The two got to see all that Virginia had to offer

“We got to see pretty much everything,” Traudt recalled. “All of the facilities, campus, coach’s house. The stuff blew me away, to be honest. I didn’t know the facilities were that amazing. The campus is super historic, so that’s kind of something I liked, the history side of it. It definitely blew us away.

“Definitely that everything is under one roof,” he added, when asked what stood out most. “The size of the arena, I knew it was pretty big but it felt a lot bigger when we were there shooting in it. But just having the weight room, academic stuff, arena, practice facility, all of it, everything under one roof is definitely something that intrigues me because it’s kind of a one-stop-shop. You can just pretty much spend your whole day there.”

The time he got to spend with Bennett and their conversations were also a highlight.

“We talked about a lot of stuff,” Traudt recalled. “We talked about just kind of how things were going, we talked about our faith, we talked basketball. And a lot of basketball stuff, too. He broke down some film of mine. His pitch to me was that he thinks I can come in and help them and potentially make an impact right away and help the program, me and Isaac McKneely both, get back to a national-championship team.”

So what sort of comparisons did Bennett and Co. give him?

“A lot of Sam Hauser, Ty Jerome, De’Andre Hunter,” he said. “So, kind of a versatile wings that they’ve had in the past that they’ve had a lot of success with and done a really good job of developing, turning them into pros.”

Traudt left Charlottesville feeling like he could see himself suiting up for the Wahoo.s

“I think I could be a great fit, especially offensively,” he said. “He uses a lot of blocker-mover, which is really good when you have a lot of good players with high IQs that know how to play the game the right way, coming off down screens and cross screens and all that stuff for open jumpers. And then defensively, that’s something that I take pride in and obviously he does too. They hold teams to the 50s pretty much every game. So that definitely helps them win and something that I could potentially want to be a part of.”

The trip to UVa was the latest in a slew of visits that Traudt has been on and will take this month.

“I went to Creighton for a day on June 1st, I took my official visit to Nebraska that next weekend, and then my visit to Virginia,” he said. “We’re headed to Michigan State Thursday and then North Carolina on the 27th [for official visits]. I probably won’t take anymore visits this summer. “Really,” Traudt added, “I just want to enjoy the last summer of my AAU career in July, be around the guys. I’ll still be focusing on recruiting a little bit but not as much, hopefully just kind of be laid back that month and then really dive into things in August and September.”

As he looks ahead to next month and running on the AAU circuit with Nebraska Supreme, Traudt is eager to get out there and compete.

“I’m really excited,” he said of July. “It’ll be a great opportunity for our guys to have college coaches see them and for me too, so I can showcase my abilities and show that I’ve improved in a lot of areas.

“I’ve got to work on my shot and keep becoming more of a knockdown shooter,” Traudt added. “I can shoot it pretty well right now but I’d like to shoot it at that 40 to 45 percent clip from 3 and then being more dynamic off the bounce as well.”

So once he dials back into the recruiting process, what sort of things will be major factors as he makes an eventual decision?

“My relationships with the head coach, the staff, and the players,” Traudt said. “That’s all probably the most important thing for me. And then how I fit the style of play that the school wants to play will be the other thing that’s important.”

Don’t expect distance to play too much of a role, though.

“No, it’s not,” he said simply. “Virginia only took four hours of flight time, just in the air time. So with the layovers, it ended up being like seven. But that’s really not that bad. That’s the same as us driving to Minneapolis or Iowa City or something like that in the midwest.

“They thought about the same as I did,” Traudt said of his parents. “They had pretty similar opinions as me. They had a really good time and were blown away by everything. They said that if you’re a flight away, it doesn’t really matter if it’s two hours or four hours or whatever. You’re on a plane. So, wherever is the best fit for me that’s where they want me to go.”

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