Is Miles McBride Worthy of All-American Status?

Where would West Virginia be without sophomore guard Miles "Deuce" McBride? Losing a McDonald's All-American (Oscar Tshiebwe) would typically be a big blow to any college roster, but for WVU head coach Bob Huggins, the heart and soul of his team comes from McBride.

If you watch the West Virginia games on ESPN, I'm sure that by now, you know McBride played quarterback at Archbishop Moeller in Cincinnati, Ohio, and considered playing college football. McBride wasn't necessarily a big-time recruit coming out of high school and after he injured his ankle, he flew way under the radar. Huggins kept his promise by saving a spot for him and that's how his journey in Morgantown all began.

As a true freshman, McBride showed glimpses of the player that he is today. He struggled with his shot at times and but was still getting good looks. Prior to the start of the season, Huggins said that McBride does a better job of creating his own shot better than anyone on the roster, he just needed to start knocking down shots. Now, the shots are falling and at times, McBride has put the team on his back and carried them to victory.

Go back to the final ten and a half minutes of the Texas Tech game to see exactly what I mean. McBride was in foul trouble and when he re-entered the game, the Mountaineers were trailing by double-digits. In the last ten minutes of the game, McBride notched 19 points on 6/6 shooting from the floor and 5/5 from the free-throw line. Not to mention, he hit the game-winning shot with about three seconds left. ESPN college basketball analyst went as far as comparing McBride to Hall of Fame New York Yankees closer, Mariano Rivera.

So far this season, McBride is averaging 16.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 43.7% from the field, 44.6% from three, and 81.6% from the free-throw line.

Following a 91-79 win over Kansas earlier in the month, Kansas head coach Bill Self gave McBride some high praise in his postgame press conference.

“McBride totally dominated the game. He was a first-team All-American tonight the way he played. He hit every big shot, made all his free throws, took care of the ball, and had eight assists.”

McBride may have impressed the Hall of Fame coach but is he an All-American if the season were to end today? I'd say he would definitely be in the conversation, but I'm not sure that he would be a lock. There are a ton of solid guards in the country and many of which get more national recognition than McBride. However, I do believe if he can continue to play at an extremely high level and lead West Virginia to some big wins down the stretch, he will earn All-American honors of some sort. For all this team has gone through with roster changes, injuries, etc., McBride has been the glue to keeping everything together and keeping the Mountaineers in the conversation for not only a Big 12 Conference title, but potentially a Final Four run.

MORE WVU BASKETBALL ARTICLES:

ESPN Bracketology Update - 2/16

Sean McNeil Named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week

Juwan Staten to Play for Best Virginia in TBT

Big 12 Reschedules WVU/Baylor Matchup

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the page's top righthand corner. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @WVUonSI

Twitter - @SI_WVU and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.