Jordan McCabe is a winner and he’s used to being in the spotlight. From the time that he was a child traveling around the country, performing during halftime shows and with the Harlem Globetrotters, he’s comfortable as the center of attention.
McCabe’s recent demotion to backup point guard for the Mountaineers won’t sit well with him. Miles McBride, the fabulous freshman, has certainly outplayed McCabe and deserves to be the starter, but McCabe will likely go two ways.
To begin, he will attempt to regain his starting role by outworking everyone else, but ultimately his work ethic can’t overcome the talent disparity between himself and McBride. In addition, McCabe’s lack of athleticism will always make him a weakness on the defensive end. Playing for Bob Huggins, a coach that values defense more than any coach perhaps in the history of college basketball, McCabe will never be able to fully please his head coach.
Once this is clear to McCabe (and it probably already is very apparent to him), he will begin to contemplate his future with the Mountaineers. Is remaining with the Mountaineers for the last two years of eligibility the best decision for his future? For a player that does not have much of a future past college, McCabe’s opportunity to play immediately is particularly important to consider.
Jordan McCabe can either stay with West Virginia and spend a majority of his time watching Miles McBride from the bench, challenging him the best he can in practice, or he can transfer to a smaller school back home in Wisconsin, where he’s a legend, and play out the remainder of his two years in college as a starting point guard and leader of a team.
McCabe is an outstanding young man, has done everything right since he’s come to Morgantown, but unfortunately a player like him, who is flashy offensively and deficient on defense, is not a particularly great fit for a Bob Huggins’ basketball team.
