SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Former Moeller High School basketball standout Miles McBride is going to the Big Apple.
The 2019 Moeller graduate was selected No. 36 overall in the second round of the NBA Draft Thursday night by the Oklahoma City Thunder. That pick was reportedly traded to the New York Knicks, according to ESPN.
McBride, a former West Virginia University guard and Moeller standout, is the second Moeller graduate selected in the draft in the past three years. New Orleans Pelicans center/forward Jaxson Hayes was the No. 8 pick in the 2019 draft.
McBride, who won back-to-back Division I state titles at Moeller in 2018 and 2019, declared for the NBA Draft April 2 after an excellent second season at West Virginia.
He was an All-Big 12 Conference second team selection for the Mountaineers this past season. He averaged 15.9 points, 4.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals in helping the Mountaineers to the round of 32 teams in the NCAA Tournament.
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McBride improved his stock in late June at the NBA Draft Combine. That ascension led those close to McBride to believe he would be a first-round selection.
"I'm watching him in the NBA (draft combine)," Moeller basketball coach Carl Kremer said earlier this month.
"Miles was a great shooter for us. I think an underrated shooter. He became a good shooter. But I'm watching him at the (combine) and he's not even hitting the rim; it's just swish after swish. Whatever environment you put him into he's able to rise up to that and actually exceed it."
McBride, listed as 6 feet 2 inches tall at West Virginia, has a wingspan measured at 6 feet 9 inches, Kremer said.
McBride told the media after a workout in mid-July that he wanted NBA teams to know about his competitive nature. He conducted eight workouts and visited 10 NBA cities the past few weeks.
"I feel like I really killed the pre-draft workouts so I'm just like, 'Man, whatever team takes me I can't wait to get to work,'" McBride told WCPO earlier this week.
Kremer received phone calls from NBA teams going back to this past winter. He has discussed McBride's "unflappable maturity" and competitiveness on the court.
"I'm confident he will do well," Kremer said. "He's just a special kid. He's an easy one to root for."
McBride joins other recent Cincinnati-area high school products drafted into the NBA since 2017 including Hayes (2019 draft), Princeton's Darius Bazley (2019), Middletown's Vincent Edwards (2018) and Franklin's Luke Kennard (2017).
