Kon Knueppel II (born August 3, 2005) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

Early life and high school career

Knueppel grew up in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and attended

Wisconsin Lutheran High School Wisconsin Lutheran High School, commonly referred to as WLHS or Wisco, is a private preparatory religious high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. WLHS was formed when the Lutheran High School in Milwaukee, founded in 1903, split in t ...

. He averaged 10.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game during his freshman season with the Wisconsin Lutheran Vikings. Knueppel averaged 19.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game as a junior. As a senior, he averaged 26.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game during the regular season and was named Wisconsin Mr. Basketball. He helped Wisconsin Lutheran win the 2024 Boys Basketball Division 2 State Championship against Pewaukee and finish the season with a 30–0 record.

Recruiting

Knueppel was rated a five-star recruit by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

and

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

and a four-star recruit by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. He committed to playing college basketball for

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

over offers from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, Notre Dame, Marquette, and

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

among others. Knueppel signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to play for the Blue Devils on November 15, 2023, during the early signing period.

College career

Knueppel enrolled at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in June 2024 in order to take part in the Blue Devils' summer practices. He made his college basketball debut during Duke's season opener against Maine on November 4, 2024, and scored 22 points with four rebounds in a 96–62 win. On November 11, 2024, Knueppel earned

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) Rookie of the week honors, after averaging 18.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. On December 21, 2024, Knueppel scored 18 points and 4 rebounds in a 82–56 win over

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. On January 7, 2025, Knueppel scored 17 points and 4 rebounds in a 76–47 victory against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. On January 14, 2025, Knueppel scored 25 points and 3 assists in a 89-54 win over

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. On January 25, 2025, Knueppel added 15 points and 8 rebounds in a 63-56 victory against Wake Forest. On January 27, 2025, Knueppel scored 19 points and 6 rebounds in a 74-64 win over

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

. On February 1, 2025, Knueppel scored 22 points in a 87-70 victory against arch-rival

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. On February 17, 2025, Knueppel added 17 points and 7 rebounds in a 80-62 win over

. On February 25, 2025, Knueppel scored 20 points and 5 rebounds in a 97-60 win against

. On March 15, 2025, Knueppel was named ACC tournament MVP as he scored 18 points and 8 rebounds in Duke‘s 73-62 victory over

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

in the ACC championship game.

Career statistics

College

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Personal life

Knueppel is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. He went to grade school and attends church at St. John’s Lutheran of the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as Christian theology, theologically conservative, it was founded ...

in Wauwatosa, WI. Knueppel's father, Kon, played college basketball at Wisconsin Lutheran College and was the school's all-time leading scorer until 2019. His father and his uncles Klint, Klay, and Kole competed in the

Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament The Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament is a nationwide event for players of a variety of age and skill levels in the United States. Although every tournament is different, a typical Gus Macker event involves basketball courts set up in parki ...

as a team named the “Flying Knueppel Brothers”. Knueppel's mother, Chari (née Nordgaard), played at Wisconsin-Green Bay and is the school's leading scorer. Knueppel's uncle, Jeff Nordgaard, also played at Wisconsin-Green Bay and played in the NBA for the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

and professionally in Europe.

References

External links

Duke Blue Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knueppel, Kon 2005 births Living people American people of German descent American men's basketball players Basketball players from Milwaukee Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players Small forwards