As NC State men’s basketball looks towards the end of the regular season, it is clear that the season has been an overall disappointment for the Pack, especially considering the red-and-white won an ACC Championship and took a trip to the Final Four last season.
Despite this lackluster season, one bright spot for this squad has been the play of freshman guard Paul McNeil, who came to Raleigh as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2024. He was the 45th-ranked recruit on ESPN and was Richmond Senior High School’s all-time leading scorer with 2,448 career points.
Currently, McNeil averages eight minutes, just under four points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. These stats are not reflective of how McNeil has been playing recently, as he got very little playing time before the start of ACC play. Since conference play has started, however, Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts has been more flexible with letting his freshmen players get playing time.
A big moment for the Pack came when freshman guard Trey Parker scored 15 points against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium, but McNeil has arguably shown even more potential as a freshman.
Over the course of the season, fans of the red-and-white have seen McNeil grow as a player and adjust to the skill level of college competition. It all culminated in the Pack’s game against Wake Forest, where he was 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line, but it didn’t start there.
He saw limited playing time in the first 16 games and totaled only 28 points. His streak got started in the Wolfpack’s game against Louisville on Feb. 12. McNeil saw 14 minutes of playing time where he totaled 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. The game was a 91-66 blowout in Louisville’s favor, and because of that, McNeil got a lot of late-game experience.
A week later, McNeil got more minutes at the end of another blowout loss, putting up 14 points in as many minutes in a 97-73 loss to the Tar Heels. One could argue that McNeil got playing time in games that were already decided and has not played against real starters giving their all, but in his first start against Wake Forest, he silenced all doubt.
McNeil came in shooting, playing 28 minutes and scoring a team-high 24 points throughout the game. It was the highlight of the season for the Wolfpack, as Wake Forest was on the bubble, and by beating them, NC State pretty much ended a rival team’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament.
A better argument would be that he has not played well on the road, a case similar to most freshmen. He played for 35 total minutes in losses against Georgia Tech and Syracuse, while totaling only seven points. McNeil seems to be in his phase where he needs to feed off of intense situations and crowds to be at his best.
McNeil took a big step up in the Wake Forest game, and he has shown he isn’t just a garbage-time player.
As the Wolfpack tries to end its season on a high note and go into the offseason with a sense of direction, something that needs to be a clear goal for this program is keeping McNeil so that he can be developed. He has shown a lot of progress already and plays with the clear confidence that drives success in teams and has shown potential to be a key piece of this program in the future.
