Is Miles McBride on His Way to Becoming a WVU Great?
Great players are hard to come by. They don't come around year after year and for some programs, there are several years in between one legendary player to the other.
From 2014-18, West Virginia fans were able to watch Jevon Carter morph into one of the best players in program history and it all started back in his true freshman season when he hit a game-winning shot against TCU at the buzzer.
Monday night, sophomore guard Miles McBride made a game-winning shot to lift the Mountaineers past No. 10 Texas Tech in what could be considered the defining moment of his legacy at WVU. Not only did McBride win it for West Virginia but he took the game over. McBride exited the game around the 16-minute mark after picking up his third foul of the night. Texas Tech went on a 19-7 run with McBride out of the game and the Mountaineers had no answer offensively. He re-entered the game with the team down 64-52 and from that point on, it was Deuce's show.
In the final 10:35 of the game, McBride was 6/6 from the floor and 5/5 from the free-throw line accumulating 19 points - he could not miss. With 16 seconds left, West Virginia had the ball and called timeout to presumably set up a play for McBride to attack the basket. Texas Tech knew it was coming and they still could not stop it from happening. McBride utilized a screen from Taz Sherman, attacked downhill, and banked one in for what would be the game-winner.
For every great basketball player, there's always that one moment that you can look back on and say 'this is where it all truly began.' McBride still has a long way to go before he can etch his name in WVU basketball prominence but he is heading in the right direction. We've heard it time after time on the television broadcasts about how he went 84-4 during his high school basketball career. This young man is a winner, he knows how to perform in clutch moments, and the stage never seems to be too big for him. On top of that, McBride's confidence is growing. You can see it every time he takes the floor. He knows how to expose the guards defending him and can create his own shot.
If anything became apparent Monday night, it's that West Virginia needs Miles McBride to stay healthy and stay out of foul trouble. If he is unable to be on the floor in crunch time, the Mountaineers are going to have a hard time winning games against tough opponents. With him out there, anything is possible - even a deep run in the NCAA Tournament come March.
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