By SAM LANCE
INDIANAPOLIS — If basketball doesn’t work out for four-star guard Jaron McKie, he may have a fallback on the golf course. Well, maybe not. Even though the 6-foot-2, 160-pound guard from St. Joseph’s (PA) loves to play with his father in his free time, golf is still more of a hobby for a reason.
“I’m alright,” McKie said. “You don’t want to know [my best nine holes]. I just go out there for fun, just to take my mind off the everyday life and stuff like that.”
While his golf game needs polishing, McKie is turning heads on the basketball court. During Nike EYBL’s Session 3 in Indianapolis, the guard posted 17.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 minutes per game for the NJ Scholars. He also shot 39.7% from the field and 34.7% from 3-point range on 32 attempts.
“I can shoot the ball,” McKie said of his game. “I’m working on like, getting to the rim. I feel like my mid range is pretty good too. Defense, rebounding, I try to be an all-around player.”
Lately, McKie has been hearing the most from Georgetown, Florida, Seton Hall and Villanova. He broke down each of those options in an exclusive interview with ZAGSBLOG.com:
Georgetown: “I’ve heard from coach [Jeff] Battle from Georgetown. I actually went up to their practice a couple months ago. I really like how they play. Even though they didn’t do good this year, I still like how they compete. They compete all the time, they play really hard. I really admire that.”
On relationship with head coach Ed Cooley: “I don’t talk to him that much. But while at practice he seemed like a cool guy. He’s a character.”
Florida: “I’ve barely heard from them. I just started talking to them so like, they just said they’re reaching out, coming to the games, so that’s all I’ve heard from them. Coach [Kevin] Hovde is who I’ve heard from.”
Seton Hall: “I’ve been talking to coach Rasheen [Davis] a lot. They play hard a lot. I feel like they should’ve made the tournament this year. They play really hard, so it’s pretty cool yeah.”
Villanova: “I’ve been talking to coach [Ashley] Howard. I talked to him like a minute ago. I went to couple a couple games this year. He came to some of my games. So we have a good relationship.”
Florida head coach Todd Golden was in Indianapolis to see McKie. Georgetown, Seton Hall and Villanova all had representation during the weekend as well.
McKie has taken unofficial visits to Virginia and Virginia Tech, but has not taken any officials yet. He will start taking those in August after Peach Jam.
“I’m just seeing how this AAU year goes,” McKie said. “After that, I’ll plan from there.”
McKie said the coaching staff he’s closest with is probably Seton Hall.
Jaron’s father, Aaron McKie, was selected 17th overall in the 1994 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. Aaron played 15 seasons in the NBA and was formerly the head coach of Temple from 2019-2023. Jaron also has two younger brothers that are twins and an older sister.
McKie is ranked the No. 115 overall player in the 2025 class per 247Sports and the No. 5 player in the state of Pennsylvania.
“I feel like I just bring it every day,” McKie said. “I feel like I can compete all the time. I’m never going to back down from a challenge when my shots aren’t falling. Just finding other ways to impact winning.”
McKie’s favorite NBA players are Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards.
“I try to resemble my game around Devin Booker,” McKie said. “He’s not the most athletic, and I’m also not the most athletic. He likes to get to his mid-range, so do I. He started off as as shooter. I feel like we have some similarities there.”
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