When the signing period opens for men’s basketball on Wednesday, Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay and the Flames are poised to ink one of the best classes in school history. Currently ranked as the No. 36 class in the country by 247Sports, the class is highlighted by four-star guard Eli Sancomb who committed to McKay in September.
Sancomb is easily the highest rated commit in school history, ranked as the No. 101 prospect in the Class of 2026 by 247Sports. On3, who ranks Liberty’s class as the 64th best class in the country, has Sancomb as the No. 117 prospect nationally. The 6’5″ athlete hails from Wheeling, West Virginia where he attends Central Catholic High School.
“Coach McKay, just the person that he is, how he treats his guys,” Sancomb told ASOR on a recent visit he made to Liberty’s campus of why he chose to commit to the Flames. “They are a winning team.”
During his junior season this past year, Sancomb was named the 2025 West Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year and led the Maroon Knights to their 13th State Championship. In three state tournament victories, he totaled 72 points, 41 rebounds, 15 assists, eight steals, and six blocked shots with seven turnovers. He made 22 of 40 field goals, including 7 of 12 from three, and 21 of 23 at the free throw line. For his junior season, Sancomb averaged 25.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.6 steals while shooting better than 54% from the field, 36% on threes, and nearly 85% from the free throw line.
After his state championship run, McKay and associate head coach Derek Johnston turned up the heat on Sancomb. He first visited Liberty in June and then took an official visit at the end of August, committing soon thereafter over a host of offers including Iowa, Colorado State, and Loyola Chicago.
“When I came here (in June), I didn’t really know what to expect,” Sancomb said. “All the people were genuine and nice, just the nicest people I’ve really ever met. Coming here for the first time, I just felt very welcome. How the team does their things off the court and on the court, I just think I would fit in really well.”
Hailed as one of the best passing guards in the country, his strong play from the school season carried over into the summer as a breakout player for the WV Gold on the Pro16 Circuit where he averaged 15.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 38.2% from three. His father, Danny Sancomb, is a longtime Division II men’s basketball coach who recently wrapped up his seventh season as head coach at California (PA). Prior to that, he was head coach for 11 seasons at Wheeling University, where he is one of the most accomplished players in program history having led the country in scoring at 26.9 points in 1997-98.
“The facilities, top notch, second to none,” said Sancomb of Liberty’s campus. “The gym is unbelievable.”
Under McKay, the Flames have done a lot of winning, reaching the NCAA Tournament four times in the past seven years with one NIT appearance. After a three-year hiatus, Liberty got back to the Big Dance this past March on the heels of a 28-7 season and 13-5 mark in Conference USA, winning both the regular season and conference tournament title. The winning tradition drew Sancomb to the Flames.
“It’s a big reason why I play basketball,” he said. “I love to compete and love to win. That’s a big reason why I came here, their winning culture. How they do things off the court, it translates right on the court. I think that’s a big part of who I am and what I’m about.”
As he prepares for his senior year of high school, Eli has his eyes set on competing for a second straight state championship.
“That was the goal last year and it’s the same this year. That’s the goal. We’ve got to keep working.”
Sancomb headlines a three-man class that is expected to sign with the Flames this week. He’s joined by Eli Herbert and Reece Davidson. Herbert is a 6’4″ guard rated as a three-star prospect who committed to Liberty in September 2024 and attends Grain Valley High School in Grain Valley, Missouri. The 6’7″ Davidson committed to Liberty this past summer. The three-star prospect is from Kentucky and chose the Flames over several offers including Western Kentucky and Toledo.
“All the commits that have committed here so far, I ‘ve been talking to them,” Sancomb said of his future teammates. “I feel like I fit with them really well.”
“I’m going to come in here every day and work very hard to try and get better,” Sancomb said. “That’s the goal, keep getting better every single day and hopefully the results will come.”
