Ex-Wisconsin high school star rejoins West Virginia as a coach, but said he wanted to be with Badgers
A college basketball player for the past five years, Jordan McCabe has a paying gig in the game now.
The uptempo point guard from Kaukauna, Wis., and seventh-leading scorer in Wisconsin high school basketball history, was hired in July to become an assistant for new West Virginia coach Josh Eilert.
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McCabe will now spend many of his days on the road recruiting high school athletes, scouting the opposition and schmoozing boosters.
The high-risk, high-reward McCabe was seen as a poor fit for the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team — a program where turnovers are kryptonite. He was recruited by former West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, but not by UW coach Greg Gard, though apparently he wanted to be.
“I think I would’ve been a Badger if the same calls would have been made,” he told WLUK Green Bay in 2021.
Instead, McCabe committed to West Virginia and played there for three seasons, between 2018 and 2021. But he lost favor with Huggins, and his playing time sank. Huggins retired from coaching in June after a drunk driving arrest.
During his time as a Mountaineer, McCabe was named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team in two of those three seasons, earning his bachelor’s degree in sports management early.
McCabe said Gard and his top assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft reached out to him when he entered the transfer portal, and he considered coming home, but ultimately decided UNLV was the “best spot for me.”.
“You got to go with your gut at the end of the day,” McCabe said to WLUK Green Bay. “I told Coach Gard and Coach Krabenhoft that I have nothing but respect for them and what they have going on at Madison.”
He left West Virginia and took a graduate transfer to UNLV, where he used his fifth Covid year to play two more seasons.
McCabe played a whopping 30 minutes averaged nearly five assists his senior season out west, but those minutes sank back to 19 minutes and two assists per game in his fifth and final season.
McCabe also earned an MBA Certification at UNLV.
TOP PHOTO: FILE – West Virginia guard Jordan McCabe (5) is defended by Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji (30) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/Kathleen Batten)