Liberty head men’s basketball coach Ritchie McKay held a press conference with the media to discuss, among other things, his 2026 early signing class. This class is arguably one of the best in school history, currently ranked as the No. 50 class in the country, according to 247Sports. McKay and the Flames signed three prospects during this early signing period in Reece Davidson, Eli Herbert, and Eli Sancomb.

Liberty’s 2026 Signing Class

Reece Davidson 6’8″, 3-star North Laurel High School, London, Kentucky, #288 ranked prospect nationally, #45 at his position, #4 in Kentucky

Eli Herbert 6’1″, 3-star Grain Valley High School, Grain Valley, Missouri

Eli Sancomb 6’5″, 4-star Central Catholic, Wheeling, West Virginia, #101 ranked prospect nationally, #10 at his position, #1 in West Virginia

Here’s everything McKay had to say about this signing class:

ON THE CLASS AS A WHOLE

“Those three, as a group, those are as good of a class I think that we’ve had in an early signing period.”

“The two Eli’s have in common, their dads are coaches. One is a high school basketball coach, the other is a college basketball coach. I think those guys always end up working out simply because of the value that they put on team-ship and winning the game.”

“I think all three of those guys have a chance to play, play right away, but we have a good program. They will have to earn it, just like some of the people that have proceeded them have had to earn it.”

“For you guys, (where this class overall and the recruits individually are ranked) is probably relevant, I could careless. I don’t ever look at who else is recruiting a dude. I have to hear from you where guys are ranked. It doesn’t matter to me. I know that probably sounds a little whatever, but I want guys that fit Liberty, that play the right way, that are about team and its success. To me, those aforementioned dudes, they were no-brainers that way. Sometimes it’s a little harder to evaluate that, especially if you are in the transfer portal because the window of recruitment is so small and the number of conversations you have with those individuals, in comparison to when you get a year and a half to two years to recruit a guy, a huge difference. You are not always going to be right, you just have to accept that.”

ON ELI SANCOMB

“I watched Eli Sancomb play a ton this summer and fell in love with his game. That kid is so good. He’s got this determination to win the game and connect people that I think is similar to what we’ve seen in some of the guys we’ve had in our program like Kyle Rode or Colin Porter or Keegan McDowell or a host of others that just really care about the team and its success.”

“Eli Sancomb, for me, I’ve done this for a while. That’s one of my favorite dudes I’ve watched in high school. I had the same vibe when I saw Colin Porter. I wanted to go see him. I’d pay the admission to go see him. I think Eli is in that same breath.”

ON REECE DAVIDSON

“Reece Davidson, if you would have saw him at the Kentucky State Tournament, no-brainer. We were fortunate that some of the high-major programs around the country are a little high school adverse. I think because of that, the fit that Liberty is for Reece, and vice-versa, we were able to get a really good player.”

ON ELI HERBERT

“Eli Herbert, he was an early decision that was an easy one for me in terms of offering him. He’s an elite shooter, but he’s also got a great feel.”