NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 6 options for WVU transfer guard Sean McNeil

It was a poor season overall for the West Virginia Mountaineers, finishing under .500 and dead last in Big 12 play. It resulted in a complete roster overhaul, with several players opting to enter the NCAA Basketball transfer portal. One of them was Sean McNeil, the team’s second-leading scorer at 12.2 ppg for the second straight season.

The 6’3 shooting guard was the top three-point shooter for West Virginia, making 37% of his shots from deep on around 5.5 attempts a game. McNeil had a hot start to this past season, scoring in double figures in 15 of the first 16 games. That includes a career-high 26 points against Kansas State.

McNeil isn’t going to be the biggest transfer pickup but his specific skillset of shooting threes will be beneficial for each of his reported finalists. So who has the best chance of landing him? Here’s how I would rank his group of contenders.

6. Cincinnati Bearcats

It was a rough first season for head coach Wes Miller, as the Bearcats finished 8th in the AAC. They lost guard Mike Saunders to the portal and leading scorer David Dejulius likely will be moving on. That does leave Jeremiah Davenport and Mika Adams-Woods and adding McNeil would be a boost for a team that ranked in the bottom-3rd of the country in three-point shooting.

The issue here is that even with McNeil, Cincinnati is still a ways away from making the NCAA Tournament and has the lowest odds compared to the other five teams on the list. Going from West Virginia in the Big 12 to Cincy in the AAC (likely the last year for McNeil in college hoops so he wouldn’t be with them when they come to the Big 12 in 2023-24) seems like a downgrade and it wouldn’t be for a larger role.

5. Virginia Cavaliers

If Kihei Clark comes back to the Cavaliers, that would likely mean that the starting backcourt (Clark, Armaan Franklin, Reece Beekman) would be set for next season. So McNeil would have to be a 6th Man for the team and provide instant offense off the bench, although with how few possessions the team runs, the production wouldn’t be a ton.

Of course, McNeil could overtake Franklin in the starting lineup due to his better three-point shooting. Virginia could certainly use his offense but other options can give him a starting spot whereas it would be an open question with this ACC program.