Kaden Metheny living an underdog life playing in first NCAA tournament
Mar. 20—MORGANTOWN — Kaden Metheny grew up rooting for the little guys in the NCAA tournament.
He'll be a real live underdog Friday when the former University High standout and his 12th-seeded Liberty Flames take on fifth-seeded Oregon at 10:10 p.m. in Seattle.
"That's kind of the cool part of being in the tournament, " Metheny said. "You know going in that people all around the country are going to be rooting for you, even though most of them probably haven't seen us play a game all season."
Actually, there will be two underdogs from Morgantown in Seattle. Former Morgantown High standout Sharron Young is a freshman at Akron. The Zips play Arizona at 7:35 p.m. Friday.
If both schools were to pull off upsets, they would face each other in the second round on Sunday.
"Yeah, how cool would that be ?" Metheny said. "I knew how good Sharron was, but he was still coming up in middle school when I was a senior at UHS. We did talk when he was going through the recruiting process.
"Akron had recruited me, too, and I really thought that would be a great place for him."
The Flames (28-6), champions of Conference USA, are a 6 1 /2-point underdog, according to Las Vegas bookmakers, but there is at least one who has Liberty as a favorite.
That would be Metheny's fiance, Brooke Nagy. They are scheduled to get married in August.
"I saw her bracket and she had us going all the way to the Final Four, " Metheny said. "She has us losing to Houston in the Final Four. I told her if she had us going that far, she might as well pick us to win it."
This will be Metheny's first time in the NCAA tournament in a college career that has experienced several twists and turns.
He spent three years at Bowling Green, but missed most of his sophomore season with a high-ankle sprain. He received a medical redshirt for that season.
Bowling Green's head coach was fired at the end of his third year at the school, and so Metheny entered the transfer portal and landed at Liberty, a private Christian school located in Lynchburg, Va.
"I can't begin to tell you how great the move to Liberty worked out for me, " Metheny said. "It's really been a special place for me. I've been blessed to be here. The school and the team was definitely the right fit for me. My teammates have become my brothers for life."
This season has certainly been the right fit for Metheny.
As part of the Flames' 28 wins, one of those came against Kansas State and Liberty won both the Conference USA regular season and tournament championships.
"We really do have a special group, " said Metheny, who was named the West Virginia high school player of the year in 2020. "It's probably been one of the most connected teams I've ever been a part of. No one cares about being the top guy or the leading scorer. We all just play for each other, which has been the biggest reason for our success."
Metheny's role has been big, especially in the conference tournament.
In the semifinals against Kennesaw State, Metheny scored 24 points with 16 coming in the second half.
In the championship against Jacksonville State, he had 21 points. Metheny shot a combined 12 of 23 from 3-point range in both games.
"I think once March rolled around, we all saw the opportunity to do something big, " he said. "I know I wanted to do everything I could to get to the NCAA tournament. I guess the rim just got a little bigger for me."
Metheny's 3-point shooting this season has led him to average 13.5 points per game. His first three against the Ducks will give him 100 on the season.
He's currently tied for 26th in the nation for the most 3-pointers in men's college basketball.
"I try to stay away from looking at the stats, so I didn't know that, " Metheny said. "I mean, when you're only 5-foot-10, you have to find a way to stretch the defense somehow."
The Flames will hope to stretch favored Oregon, too.
"We're going out there with full confidence, " Metheny said. "Our team is in a good groove right now. We believe we can win if we play our game. You have to have that belief, or else it doesn't make a lot of sense to make the trip."
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