Miles Sadler’s Naismith Honor Signals How Big West Virginia’s Ceiling Could Be

The future is bright in Morgantown!

Miles Sadler

Ross Hodge is off to an impressive start as the head coach at West Virginia, entering Saturday's game with No. 1 Arizona at 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12. And just think, this is just the start of what he's building.

Next year, the Mountaineers will have a foundational piece to build forward with in point guard Miles Sadler, who is considered to be the highest-rated recruit in program history.

As a junior a year ago, Sadler averaged 16 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game. He's carried that momentum into his final year of prep ball, and on Thursday, he was announced as one of the 25 players selected to the 2026 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Boys High School Player of the Year Midseason Team.

He's not the biggest guy in the world, standing in at roughly 5'11", 170 pounds, but he makes up for his lack of size with his speed and extremely high basketball IQ. He makes the right read consistently, making him an all-around dynamic offensive player. Don't sleep on his defense, though. He's scrappy and takes pride in how he plays on that end of the floor. He's going to be the centerpiece of this rebuild moving forward.

Landing a player of this caliber is a program-changing type of acquisition. Obviously, you still have to identify and sign the right pieces around him, but this is someone who can singlehandedly make you a threat in the Big 12 Conference for years to come.

The entire Naismith Trophy Boys Midseason Team

SF Maximo Adams (North Carolina), SF JJ Andrews (Arkansas), SF Bruce Branch III (undecided), PF Christian Collins (undecided), C Quin Costello (Michigan), PG Jason Crowe (Missouri), C Arafan Diane (Houston), PG Luke Ertel (Purdue), PF Caleb Gaskins (Miami), SG Austin Goosby (Texas), SF Caleb Holt (undecided), SF Bryson Howard (Duke), SG Jasiah Jervis (Michigan State), PG Taylen Kinney (Kansas), SF Colben Landrew (UConn), PG Brandon McCoy (undecided), SF Jaxon Richardson (undecided), PG Deron Rippey Jr. (Duke), PG Miles Sadler (West Virginia), SG Jordan Smith (undecided), PF Marcus Spears Jr. (undecided), SF Tyran Stokes (undecided), SF Anthony Thompson (Ohio State), SF Abdou Toure (Aransas), PF Cameron Williams (Duke).

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