LH grad Gallagher keeps tabs on alma mater
AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
When Miya Harris scored her 1,000th point on Jan. 27 for the Laurel Highlands girls basketball team there was another recent LH graduate inside Harold “Horse” Taylor Gymnasium who had also reached that milestone.
West Virginia University wide receiver Rodney Gallagher III was in attendance.
“It’s cool to see,” Gallagher said. “Good for her. Me doing it, I know what it feels like. It’s fun being here. It’s a great moment.”
Gallagher, a 2023 Laurel Highlands graduate, not only hit the 1,000-point mark during his career as a four-time Herald-Standard Player of the Year and four-time all-state honoree, he topped the 2,000-point mark, surpassing Nick Bosnic as the Mustangs’ all-time leading scorer during his senior season.
Gallagher ended his high school basketball career with 2,035 points.
He was happy to be back at his old school to watch Harris score 20 points in a 59-10 win over Mount Pleasant, the final three coming on a 3-pointer with 5:15 left in the third quarter to put Harris right at 1,000.
Gallagher, who also attended the Laurel Highlands boys basketball team’s victory at Albert Gallatin on Friday night, enjoys visiting his alma mater.
“Honestly, I’m just trying to help a little bit. It’s something to do in the offseason,” Gallagher said. “I’m trying to show support for my old school. That’s why I’m here.”
Gallagher, also a four-year starter in football at Laurel Highlands, attended a Mustangs football game this past season as well.
Gallagher enters his junior season with the Mountaineers under a new coach, who’s actually an old coach.
Rich Rodriguez, a native of Grant Town, West Virginia, who guided WVU from 2001 to 2007, was hired as head coach of the Mountaineers for a second stint on Dec. 12, stepping in for Neal Brown, who recruited Gallagher.
“We’re excited about him.” said Gallagher, who expressed confidence in Rodriguez. “I think he’s a good coach and I think he’s going to take us to the next level.”
West Virginia went 9-4, including a win over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Gallagher’s freshman year but fell to 6-7 and finished the season with a 42-37 setback to Memphis in the Frisco Bowl in which Gallagher had five catches for 59 yards.
The 5-foot-10, 178-pound Gallagher, who now wears No. 24, has played in all 26 of the Mountaineers games over his freshman and sophomore seasons. He has 31 rushing attempts for 138 yards and 36 receptions for 362 yards and three touchdowns so far in his two-year career, while also filling in at defensive back on the other side of the ball a few times last year.
All three of his TDs came in the 2024 season, in which he also returned two punts for 18 yards.
Gallagher has met with Rodriguez.
“I did, we talked,” Gallagher said. “He’s excited for me. I feel good about having him as our coach.”
West Virginia’s Gold-Blue Spring Game is scheduled for April 5.