UNLV interested in West Virginia transfer Jordan McCabe

Jordan McCabe is leaving West Virginia after three seasons in Morgantown. UNLV has joined the chase for McCabe, according to Doug Ritchay.

McCabe’s minutes and production actually decreased in his time at West Virginia. As a freshman, he averaged 5.8 points in 18.5 minutes per game. This past season, McCabe played just 11 minutes per game, scoring 2.2 points. 

Playing time sounds like a high priority for McCabe, as he told Fox 11:

“The staff decided my best fit was as a role player, a backup, whatever tag you want to put on it. If you split my career in two segments here at WVU, when I played more than 20 minutes a game … my numbers were efficient. My sophomore year, from Game 1, was pretty much suffocated.”

Pending who departs from UNLV – five players are already in the transfer portal – UNLV could have plenty of playing time to offer. 

McCabe also doesn’t sound too worried about playing at a lower level. 

“The question of, do you want to stay at the Power 5 level? Are you concerned with a high-major or mid-major? I made sure all schools understood that wasn’t a concern for me. It’s less about level and more about fit, so I’m fielding all interests, whether that be Big Ten interest, Missouri Valley interest or Horizon League interest,” McCabe said to Fox 11. 

The other schools to reach out to McCabe are Green Bay, Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Grand Canyon, Bradley, Purdue Fort-Wayne, Toledo, Drexel, Youngstown State and Marshall.

Offensively, McCabe is a three-point specialist with 62 percent of his shots coming from behind the arc. The problem is McCabe only made 28.3 percent of his threes. 

His freshman year, when he got the most playing time, he did hit a respectable 33.8 percent. But he cratered to under 22 percent in each of his last two seasons. 

McCabe also has solid assist numbers. Per 40 minutes, McCabe averaged over 5 assists per game in his career. 

It is clear from UNLV’s transfer interest they want a point guard. Since Kevin Kruger was named head coach, the Rebels have reached out to McCabe and North Dakota transfer Tyree Ihenacho.