The Division I men’s basketball early signing period begins on Wednesday, November 13th and lasts for one week. Ritchie McKay and the Liberty Flames have four verbal commitments in the class of 2020 who are all expected to sign on Wednesday. Drake Dobbs, Isiah Warfield, Jonathan Jackson, and Micaiah Abii are early pledges to the Flames.
Dobbs was the first commitment in the class, as he gave his pledge back in early January. The 6’1″, 180 pound point guard is from Eden Prairie, Minnesota where he attends Eden Prairie High School. He visited Liberty last September and chose the Flames over offers from Colorado State, North Dakota State, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Last season, he helped his school to a 22-10 year while leading the team in scoring at 18.4 points per game and shooting an impressive 46.2% from the field while also averaging five assists and four rebounds per game. Rivals ranks Dobbs as a 3-star prospect.
Warfield is the highest rated recruit in school history, according to 247 Sports, surpassing current true freshman Kyle Rode. The 6’5″ combo guard is a 3-star rated prospect from Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He had offers from Duquesne, Southern Utah, and Hampton. He committed to the Flames in March, fresh off the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament win. This past season, Warfield averaged 25.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists points per game for Sewickley Academy while leading them to the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals. He has transferred from Sewickley to Central Valley High School for his senior season.
The 6’4″, 180 pound guard, Jonathan Jackson is the younger brother of former North Carolina and current Dallas Maverick star Justin Jackson. Jonathan committed to Liberty in May, after the Flames were one of the first schools to begin showing interest in him, as early as the summer of 2017. Liberty is his only reported offer, but several schools showed interest including Texas A&M, Duke, UCF, UNC, Kansas, Virginia, Oklahoma, Pitt, Colorado, and Kansas State. His older brother Justin starred at UNC, winning the ACC Player of the Year award for the 2016-17 season and setting the school record for single-season three-pointers made. Jonathan has been ranked by one publication as the number 2 player in Kansas in the class of 2020. Like his brother, Jonathan has spent most of his young career as a home school player, playing recently with Kansas City’s Metro Academy and various AAU teams. His family moved to Overland Park, Kansas recently and he is now playing with Blue Valley High School. Jonathan is a standout perimeter shooter and has played with some of the better AAU teams in the country.
Abii is the most recent pledge, committing in late August. The 6’7″ forward from Frisco, Texas attends Liberty High School. He also had offers from Air Force, Boston, Columbia, Dallas Baptist, Drexel, Grambling State, Lamar, Lipscomb, Maryland Baltimore-County, Northeastern, Southern, and South Alabama. At 6’7″ and 230 pounds, Abii is still able to play with the ball in his hands and has even described himself as a point forward.
With the news of Keegan McDowell transferring, McKay and the Flames have one more scholarship for the Class of 2020. Be sure to check back Wednesday for much more coverage of Liberty’s recruiting class.
