While the star transfers — including forward Darrion Williams, forward Ven-Allen Lubin and guard Tre Holloman — receive most of the media attention, sophomore guard Paul McNeil Jr. waits patiently in the wings.
In a neck-and-neck preseason exhibition with South Carolina, McNeil was handed the keys to the game in its waning moments. He delivered, hitting a contested, step-back, buzzer-beating game-winner to lift the Wolfpack to an 88-86 victory. This is only a glimpse of what McNeil can bring to the table, and he looks ready to step into a bigger role in the starting rotation.
That moment hinted at what may come under new leadership.
A promising four-star recruit under former head coach Kevin Keatts, McNeil never had the chance to blossom, struggling to fit into the system. With limited minutes his freshman year, McNeil was like the Bugatti meme sitting in the mobile home’s garage.
However, this year is a clean slate for McNeil. New head coach Will Wade has a lot of belief in him, and he has lit a fire under the team behind him. Every player wants to see McNeil succeed, and they have seen his progression firsthand.
“I think another guy under the radar is Paul McNeil,” Williams said at ACC Tipoff. “From the beginning of the summer to now, he has gotten the best out of all of us.”
Wade hasn’t overlooked the sophomore guard and has tailored McNeil’s role to amplify his best attribute: shooting. McNeil is a great catch-and-shoot player who can go on long stretches without missing once he gets hot. According to Wade, he shot 46% from beyond the arc during the summer program, and those reps translated into the game against the Gamecocks, scoring all nine of his points from three-point range.
McNeil is one of two returning players for the Wolfpack this year, and finding his groove in the offense was never going to be an easy task. However, in the home opener against North Carolina Central, it looked as if McNeil had been playing with the starting rotation for years. He fit naturally into the offense, knocking down four triples and forcing the Eagles’ defense to guard up, which opened up driving lanes for Lubin and junior forward Jerry Deng.
McNeil finished the game with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting and 4-for-7 from three. He found rhythm in his spots and shot the ball with confidence, inspiring players like freshman guard Matt Able to “let ’em fly”, as Able knocked down three triples of his own. McNeil also grabbed four rebounds and had active hands to pick up a steal. If McNeil can be a consistent threat from three, the Wolfpack offense shifts dramatically.
Wade has made it clear that the Pack will regularly be shooting a lot of threes. The Wolfpack tied its program-high with 19 made threes against NCCU. And at the center of that plan is McNeil.
“[McNeil]’s going to have a barrage where he hits 3 triples in a couple of minutes, cause that’s what he does and who he is, and we are going to go back to him after he hits one,” Wade said. “We are going to keep putting him out there and he’s going to nail them more often than not.”
McNeil’s ability to shoot the ball from 30-plus feet with confidence gives opposing zone defenses nightmare holes to fill. The Eagles tried out different defensive sets during the game, and after switching to a one-three-one zone defense in the second half, McNeil hit a 30-foot three-pointer to immediately bust the effort. McNeil is the perfect deep threat to break down opposing defenses, and his presence alone draws defenses out, creating space for the forwards to operate and contribute to complementary basketball.
“We believe in him — he’s a great player,” Wade said. “He is an elite shooter, I think he’s one of the elite shooters in the country.”
McNeil knows what his role on this team is, and he understands it’s no longer about dropping 70-point games like he did in high school. The primary scorer for the Wolfpack is Williams, but McNeil’s role as a shooter is equally important. Championship-caliber teams always have a knockdown shooter, and McNeil knows that when March comes, it will be him tearing up the nets from deep.
“You have got to stay ready, and you have got to hit your shots,” McNeil said. “If you want to play, you have to be hitting shots. That’s really been my mindset going into my sophomore year.”
