On Monday, Liberty made the additions of transfers Kaden Metheny and Zander Yates as well as high school senior Jaylen Davis official, announcing their signings. With their additions, Liberty’s roster for the 2023-24 season is now complete.

KADEN METHENY

Metheny, a transfer from Bowling Green. is a 5’11”, 180 pound guard with two seasons of eligibility remaining which could become three if he receives a medical redshirt for the 2021-22 season where he only played 10 games due to injury.

Originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, Metheny has started  63 of 64 career games he’s played in for the Falcons over the previous three years. This past season, Metheny started 27 of 28 games while averaging 31.8 minutes per game. He averaged 10.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists each game. Metheny was 77 of 173 from three for 38.2% this season as Bowling Green finished 11-20 on the season and 5-13 in the MAC.

For his career, Metheny averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 34.0% from three and 78.5% from the free throw line. He missed most of his second season at Bowling Green due to a high ankle sprain. Metheny entered the portal following Bowling Green head coach Michael Huger’s firing from the program. Metheny reportedly had about 30 schools reach out to him while he was in the portal.

Metheny will add another ball-handler in the backcourt alongside Colin Porter and also push for a starting position as the Flames look for someone to take the starting guard spot left vacated by Darius McGhee’s departure.

Head Coach Ritchie McKay’s take – “Kaden Metheny will quickly become another favorite of our fans. He’s a tough, complete offensive player that has a huge commitment to his team’s outcome. We will undoubtedly benefit from his experience at the Division I level. The impact that he’ll have on the court and in our locker room will be significant!”

ZANDER YATES

Creighton transfer Zander Yates is a 6’7″, 225 pound forward who played in 11 games for the Bluejays this past season, his redshirt-freshman campaign, as Creighton advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. He was 5 of 15 shooting from the field and 4 of 11 from three in his limited minutes. After arriving at Creighton as a preferred walk-on, Yates redshirted his true freshman season during the 2021-22 campaign. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

Yates attended Houston High School in Germontown, Tennessee where he led his team to a Class 3A state title and 21-3 overall record. He averaged 9.7 points and 6.7 rebounds during the state tournament run. He was high school teammates with Creighton teammate Mason Miller as well as Jerrell Colbert (LSU) and Johnathan Lawson (Memphis). He was coached by former NBA three-point specialist Mike Miller. Out of high school, Yates also received recruiting interest from Central Michigan, UT Martin, and Jacksonville before committing to Creighton in May of 2021.

Zander’s dad, Jon Yates played his basketball at Liberty from 1989-91. Zander is a forward that can stretch the floor and provide three-point shooting for the Flames.

Head Coach Ritchie McKay’s take – “Zander Yates is sneaky good! Although we didn’t offer him out of high school, we were of the belief that he would be a very good player in Division I basketball. He comes from a terrifically well-coached collegiate program and competed on a daily basis against some very good players. Though he might not garner a bunch of recruiting fanfare, we think he fits terrifically well in our program.”

JAYLEN DAVIS

Jaylen Davis, a 2023 high school prospect from Richmond, Kentucky, is a 6’5″, 165 pound prospect that attends Madison Central High School. He also owns an offer from Eastern Kentucky and had interest from several schools including Belmont, Marshall, and Appalachian State. Davis picked up the offer from his hometown EKU during 8th grade. He scored 1,825 career points during high school.

Davis set a school record during his career with 10 made three-pointers in a single game, breaking the mark previously set by his school principal. He averaged 22 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game this past season while shooting 38% from three and was a finalist for 2023 Mr. Kentucky. Earlier this month, Davis took home Kentucky MVP honors in an all-star game against an Ohio all-star team, leading his team with 19 points.

Davis garnered numerous recognitions, including: 11th Region Player of the Year, 44th District MVP, Nations Elite first team all-state, Lexington Herald Leader second team all-state, Louisville Courier Journal all-state second team and Kentucky Sports Radio first team all-state team.

In addition to being a good three-point shooter, Davis also is a very good defender. In high school, he would typically get the opposing team’s top wing scorer. In a game this past February, Davis was matched up with Kentucky signee Reed Sheppard, and the Liberty commit got the best of the matchup on both ends of the court. Davis scored 36 points, including seven three-pointers, in a win over North Laurel and Sheppard, 74-58. Sheppard, who entered the game averaging 22 points per game, was held to just 12 points as Davis defended him the majority of the game.

Head Coach Ritchie McKay’s take – “Jaylen Davis has a chance to be really, really good! He comes from a terrifically well-coached high school program. I really believe he was one of many high schoolers who have been undervalued due to the transfer portal’s popularity. He brings size and length along with a high IQ and skill set to our backcourt.”

Metheny, Yates, and Davis join fellow newcomers Curtis Blair and Kai Yu to Liberty’s roster this coming season as the program moves into Conference USA.

Returning starters Colin Porter, Joseph Venzant, and Kyle Rode highlight a group that return to help lead Coach McKay’s Flames this coming season. Key reserves from last season, Zach Cleveland, Brody Peebles, and Shiloh Robinson also return from a team that tied for the ASUN regular season title and advanced to the ASUN title game before falling to Kennesaw State. Liberty finished the year with a 27-9 record and a final KenPom ranking of 48, the highest in school history.