DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell added to his incoming recruiting class with the signing of Charles McKinney. McKinney is a native of Chicago’s north suburbs, who played three seasons at Maine East High School before competing last year at Quality Education Academy in North Carolina.
McKinney, a 6-4 guard with a 6-8 wingspan, joins DePaul’s top 25-ranked recruiting class that includes Chicagoland signees Jamee Crockett and Macari Brooks along with Orlando native Shane Larkin and Derrell Robertson from Mississippi.
CBSSports.com affiliated MaxPreps.com ranks DePaul’s incoming class at No. 25 in the nation and seventh among the Big East’s 16 programs.
McKinney is ranked among the nation’s top 60 shooting guards by ESPN.com. In his season at Quality Education Academy, he averaged 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.2 steals per game as the Pharoahs finished with a 26-4 record and won the NCSAA Division I championship for the third straight year.
Prior to attending QEA, McKinney was a Blue Demon at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Ill., where he helped lead the team to 37 victories over his two varsity seasons.
The five-player freshmen class joins Miami University transfer Donnavan Kirk next season in Lincoln Park. Kirk joined the Blue Demons in January at the start of the Winter Quarter and will be eligible to play following the conclusion of 2011 Autumn Quarter exams just before the Thanksgiving holiday.