CROMWELL — He stands about 5 feet tall. He weighs about 100 pounds. He looks about 12 years old.
But, man, can the kid shoot the 3.
Old Lyme freshman Will McKeever began the boys basketball season drawing double takes. He's ending it drawing double teams, and playing for a CIAC championship.
McKeever and his Old Lyme mates (22-4) put their Division V title on the line Saturday when they take on undefeated Shepaug Valley (26-0) at 12:30 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.
McKeever will be among the youngest players in the five boys state finals weekend and easily the smallest. That doesn't mean he won't cast a long shadow. The four 3-pointers he knocked down in the semifinals against Grasso Tech were a continuation of what he's delivered throughout the season.
Said Old Lyme head coach Brady Sheffield, "Every time he shoots it, I think it's going in."
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To date, McKeever has dropped 34 shots from beyond the arc. He had a season-high five against Old Saybrook and helped the Wildcats capture the Shoreline Conference championship.
Many an opponent has paid for selling No. 3 short.
"Some people who don't scout well or don't watch us play, they see him go in and they're like, 'Are you kidding me? This is a joke," Sheffield said. "But when he gets out there and takes a charge on your best player and hits two 3's, then you know he's for real."
McKeever is used to the looks. He was always the small guy coming up through the youth ranks and then passing into the veritable forest of varsity play.
"Especially at the high school level," he said. "I've noticed everyone is significantly bigger than me."
That's fine. Look at him like he's a runt and he'll dig deep to play even bigger.
"Exactly," McKeever said. "That's the mentality I have to go into every game.
"Being undersized, I kind of want to be an inspiration for everyone else undersized and show that you can still play at the high levels."
McKeever gets after it with that kid-brother's pluck. There's a dollop of irony in that. McKeever actually has a kid brother. Jameson McKeever is two years younger than Will, yet already stands a few inches taller.
Jameson does not play basketball. He's a quarterback for an East Lyme youth football team and student manager for Old Lyme basketball.
"I do wish he played (basketball), because we could relate better to that, but him being the manager is cool," said Will. "He's still part of it.
"We have a really good relationship; we play all the time," Will added. "Before most games we play 1-v-1 on our mini-hoop and I've been just trying to take charges on him to just get ready."
Jameson was actually part of a two-McKeever deal. Brendan McKeever, the boys' father, who had coached Will and his peers in youth hoop, was brought aboard as an assistant when Sheffield was hired head coach last year.
Sheffield also asked if Jameson could come along to manage. The youngest McKeever helps with film and runs the clock during practices. With his suit and tie on game night and bright shock of yellow hair, Jameson is the face of Old Lyme basketball as much as the Wildcat mascot.
"That's been a great by-product of this whole thing," said Brendan McKeever. "Not only the (players), but I'm able to spend so much time with my kids. I'm a lucky man."
Last season culminated in Old Lyme's first-ever state championship. Now, with Will's marksmanship, the Wildcats are setting sights on title No. 2.
"Making the state championship as a freshman is pretty awesome, and having a good role on that is pretty cool, too," said Will.
In the big picture, little Will McKeever fits the Old Lyme mold. Is there a more youthful team in the state? Sheffield, himself an Old Lyme point guard as recently as 2020, was hired at age 21. One of his star players last year was a freshman, Ed Fiske.
In the offseason, it was clear to Fiske that McKeever would be the next rookie to make a splash.
"In our workouts, he was shooting the lights out," Fiske said. "Even though he's on the shorter side, we all have confidence in him to go out and shoot that 3-ball."
Sheffield certainly does. He wheels McKeever out against guys well over a foot taller. He knows his freshman can see the forest through the trees.
"I have more confidence in him than just about anyone I've coached so far — ever," Sheffield said. "Just his work ethic. In the offseason, he put thousands of shots up, came to the track, came to the weight room, running, lifting.
"I know it doesn't look like it, but he works real hard in the weight room. Then, in practice, he never takes a play off. One of the loudest guys in the practice. Everything that we embody as a team and our culture, that's Will."