2024 Recruiting: Liam McNeeley

[bendm]

Thanks for posting. Looking in on3 just now, looks like it’s a 2 team race between Kansas and Indiana. Liam McNeeley - Montverde Academy - Small Forward

Fake news. 18 pages havent been devoted to a guy staff isn’t actively recruiting and thinks they have a shot at

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I'm going to approach Yum Brands about creating a Burger King All-American team and they can compete with McDonald's to see later on which team eventually produces the best players and which players....flamed out.

if you did that…they would be confused. Yum doesn’t own Burger King….Restaurant Brands International does. Yum’s big chains are Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.

 

[UCTitleTown]

if you did that…they would be confused. Yum doesn’t own Burger King….Restaurant Brands International does. Yum’s big chains are Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.

Okay......

 

[auror]

"So, I'm really focused on McDonald's and then later this week I'm focused on the Chipotle Nationals. So, I'm not really worrying about recruiting now and it will be after all of that."

The nationals were just a week ago, people need to chill out.

 

[YoungFree]

19 pages of comments...just want the commitment at this point

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Personally, I could care less about "McDonald's All American" status -

How do you measure how much less you could care?

I say pour a drink, kick your fett up, and let the good times roll.

#fettkickingood

You’re definitely not the first to question if we’re recruiting him, so to be clear: the dude said himself we’re recruiting him and every single solitary indication is that we are actively recruiting him.

I enter a thread for the first time, and it's closing in on 500 posts, so I jump to the most recent and then back up 1 page.

Am I up to date?
Have I missed anything?

 

[ec33]

How do you measure how much less you could care?

In Hiltons.

 

[Mister P]

He’ll schedule campus visits once the Jordan Classic in Brooklyn concludes. Game is set for this coming Sunday with star studded rosters.
Our own Ahmad Nowell is scheduled to play in the game.

Five-star Liam McNeeley to take visits after Jordan Classic | Zagsblog

By ADAM ZAGORIA Five-star forward Liam McNeeley […]

www.zagsblog.com

Jordan Brand Classic All-American rosters released with prestigious senior all-star games returning to Brooklyn, NY on April 21 - Bluestar Media

BENSALEM, Pa. – The Jordan Brand Classic released the rosters today for the annual senior all-star high school basketball games that will be played on April 21 inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.. Several of the players are rostered on teams from the current Blue Star Media Elite 25...

bluestarmedia.org

 

[Tonyf629]

FWIW:

https://x.com/richard37215662/status/1780013084200906852?s=46

“Keep hearing loads of UConn and Kansas chatter for McNeeley. Ky was very much in it until the coaching change. May still be.”

 

[Agent0]

FWIW:

https://x.com/richard37215662/status/1780013084200906852?s=46

“Keep hearing loads of UConn and Kansas chatter for McNeeley. Ky was very much in it until the coaching change. May still be.”

I thought I saw somewhere that Kansas was fading after everyone thought he going there Immediately de committed from IU

 

[RuffRuff]

I thought I saw somewhere that Kansas was fading after everyone thought he going there Immediately de committed from IU

Would make sense as if they were the silver medalist first time around, you’d think it would be a quick decision for him. But he could be waiting to see what Furphy does. I honesty don’t see what scouts see in Furphy.

Not sure how UM would be a major player, new coach and full reset. Arkansas not much different. AZ is bleeding players to the portal and who wants to play along Caleb?

He gets to play with Nowell this weekend in BK, could be a nice way to ingratiate himself with his future PG, and learn more about the right reasons to make a choice.

This kid would seem like a total catch and shoot kind of player, which the Hurley system does well with.

 

[Agent0]

Would make sense as if they were the silver medalist first time around, you’d think it would be a quick decision for him. But he could be waiting to see what Furphy does. I honesty don’t see what scouts see in Furphy.

Not sure how UM would be a major player, new coach and full reset. Arkansas not much different. AZ is bleeding players to the portal and who wants to play along Caleb?

He gets to play with Nowell this weekend in BK, could be a nice way to ingratiate himself with his future PG, and learn more about the right reasons to make a choice.

This kid would seem like a total catch and shoot kind of player, which the Hurley system does well with.

Hopefully Ahmad tosses him some nice dimes Brooklyn to remind him

 

[controlfade]

Sounds like Kansas might be bowing out as they have made the Alabama portal kid their priority

 

[dennismenace]

Agreed. Need another pure guard in there. Reminds me of 2022 when we had Martin, Jackson, and Whaley in the starting lineup. That was pretty much 2 SFs and a PF. Last season we had two pure guards in Newton and Hawkins. This season we had 3 pure guards in the Newton, Spencer, and Castle. I have a very hard time believing Stewart comes off the bench next year but Diarra, Ball, and McNeely at the 1/2/3 is very well rounded.

Expecting Nowell to get serious minutes at guard next season. Cannot see him not in the mix.

 

[aburks41]

Expecting Nowell to get serious minutes at guard next season. Cannot see him not in the mix.

Expect him to start

 

[JonnyRI]

Based on the last few years the difference between our 6th man and a starter is minimal. And our backup center will get 15 minutes. It’s 8-9 where the difference between 5 and 15 minutes is whether Hurley trusts them.

 

[FlexOnEm]

Expecting Nowell to get serious minutes at guard next season. Cannot see him not in the mix.

I expect a minimum of 20 MPG from Nowell. I know he’s the real deal. Very much a Hurley type-player.

Expect him to start

It wouldn’t shock me. I could see Nowell starting and him/Diarra both getting 20+ minutes a night.

 

[auror]

Nowell starting is probably not ideal. The top 5 teams (and 8 of the 11 total) in the Big East last season all started senior or COVID 5th year point guards. The 3 who didn't started sophomores: Nova (Armstrong), Providence (Pierre, but you could argue junior Carter was their PG), and Georgetown (Epps).

All 3 missed the tournament. 2 of those 3 were pretty decent disappointments (finished significantly lower than preseason KenPom). Providence had the Hopkins injury, but also Carter played much better than expected and they still finished below preseason KenPom. In the portal and COVID 5th year era, experience at PG is King. Newton was senior and 5th year for our 2 championships.

 

[August_West]

Nowell starting is probably not ideal. The top 5 teams (and 8 of the 11 total) in the Big East last season all started senior or COVID 5th year point guards. The 3 who didn't started sophomores: Nova (Armstrong), Providence (Pierre, but you could argue junior Carter was their PG), and Georgetown (Epps).

All 3 missed the tournament. 2 of those 3 were pretty decent disappointments (finished significantly lower than preseason KenPom). Providence had the Hopkins injury, but also Carter played much better than expected and they still finished below preseason KenPom. In the portal and COVID 5th year era, experience at PG is King. Newton was senior and 5th year for our 2 championships.

It's not that cut and dry. You start your best options. You start the players who earn it. Players who have talent, fit your game model and give you the best chance to win. Experience is great, but experience for experience sake doesn't pay the bills. I mean we just started a Freshman all year who locked down all those "experienced" guards you mentioned including Carter. Nowell isn't Pierre, Armstrong, Epps. Older teams definitely have shown out but there is room in this game for impact Frosh, and Nowell could absolutely be one of them.

 

[nomar]

Experience is great, but experience for experience sake doesn't pay the bills.

A wise man once said, "You don't go through life, you grow through life."

 

[Skies17]

OT from McNeely, but Diarra was rated as the 34th best player in the country according to EvanMiya. The "play the best players" argument doesn't break in Nowell's favor unless he has a Steph level freshman season or you really mean "play the most talented players regardless of production"

Maybe Diarra doesn't start because he's extremely valuable in the 6th man role, but to me that's overthinking it. Kemba's freshman year he came off the bench and played 25 mpg, only starting twice when Price was injured. That's the blueprint I'd follow.

 

[dennismenace]

Nowell starting is probably not ideal. The top 5 teams (and 8 of the 11 total) in the Big East last season all started senior or COVID 5th year point guards. The 3 who didn't started sophomores: Nova (Armstrong), Providence (Pierre, but you could argue junior Carter was their PG), and Georgetown (Epps).

All 3 missed the tournament. 2 of those 3 were pretty decent disappointments (finished significantly lower than preseason KenPom). Providence had the Hopkins injury, but also Carter played much better than expected and they still finished below preseason KenPom. In the portal and COVID 5th year era, experience at PG is King. Newton was senior and 5th year for our 2 championships.

Good research. I wasn't thinking of him as always playing Pt guard; just in the mix as a ballhandler and a defender. Someone pointed out that we may be playing a deeper rotation next year and I tend to agree with that. I'm told both recruits are very good defenders so we might see more pressing and running/transition. I was hoping to see that in the recent past but we wore down our opponents making them run all over trying to defend our offense in the half court! Maybe one more portal guy and McNeely and I can picture Hurley staying up late in the evening fiendishly working out plans to bring destruction on our opponents again (and again!). I thought waiting for last year to arrive was agonizing. I'll just have to do some fishing and keep up with the BY.

 

[businesslawyer]

OT from McNeely, but Diarra was rated as the 34th best player in the country according to EvanMiya. The "play the best players" argument doesn't break in Nowell's favor unless he has a Steph level freshman season or you really mean "play the most talented players regardless of production"

Maybe Diarra doesn't start because he's extremely valuable in the 6th man role, but to me that's overthinking it. Kemba's freshman year he came off the bench and played 25 mpg, only starting twice when Price was injured. That's the blueprint I'd follow.

I don’t know how valuable I think that kind of overall player ranking is, but it’s a striking number nonetheless. Now, realize how many of those 35 won’t be playing college ball next year and the thought that Hass won’t be one of the five best players on our team strikes me as truly bizarre. If, as the season wears on, Nowell and Ball are both better than him, well, that would be great. But I don’t think that’s where the smart money is.

 

[auror]

It's not that cut and dry. You start your best options. You start the players who earn it. Players who have talent, fit your game model and give you the best chance to win. Experience is great, but experience for experience sake doesn't pay the bills. I mean we just started a Freshman all year who locked down all those "experienced" guards you mentioned including Carter. Nowell isn't Pierre, Armstrong, Epps. Older teams definitely have shown out but there is room in this game for impact Frosh, and Nowell could absolutely be one of them.

Sure. But if an outside the top 30 freshman PG earns the starting spot in the era of COVID 5th years, the likelihood is that your team isn't in a great spot and likely mismanaged the offseason (or as happens occasionally the recruiting analysts were way off). That's my point.

Also that people need to manage their expectations about how good Nowell will be in year 1. Castle was a top 10 guy with NBA draft projections before the season. Here are the PGs/CGs in Nowell's range (composite 30s) last 2 seasons:

Jeremy Fears - Got hurt, but before that was backing up an average upperclassman.
Simeon Wilcher - Barely got minutes on a bubble team.
Layden Blocker - Barely played on a bad Arkansas team.
Garwey Dual - Had draft buzz, and ended up just a rotation guy on a mediocre Providence team even despite injuries.
Taison Chatman - Barely played on a mediocre Ohio State team.
Dedan Thomas - Started at the mid-major level for a mediocre UNLV team, but was overall pretty good.
Miro Little - Barely played for a good Baylor team.
Skyy Clark - Started out of the gate for an Illinois team, wasn't especially good, quit the team halfway through.
Collin Chandler - Went on a Mormon mission.
Seth Trimble - Played less than 10 mpg for struggling under expectations Carolina team.
Freddy Dillone - Redshirted, then barely played as a freshman this year.
Dior Johnson - Arrested and played JuCo.

Not a single one was a high major full season starter. Reed Sheppard was in the 40s, so I'm not ruling out Nowell coming in and being awesome. It could happen. It's just not likely. That and as pointed out in a couple posts before mine, Diarra was pretty good last season. I doubt Nowell could beat him out, and if he does, it's more likely that Diarra's shooting really regressed or something. But if Diarra leaves, we should absolutely look to get an experienced guard to start over Nowell.

 

[August_West]

Sure. But if an outside the top 30 freshman PG earns the starting spot in the era of COVID 5th years, the likelihood is that your team isn't in a great spot and likely mismanaged the offseason (or as happens occasionally the recruiting analysts were way off). That's my point.

Also that people need to manage their expectations about how good Nowell will be in year 1. Castle was a top 10 guy with NBA draft projections before the season. Here are the PGs/CGs in Nowell's range (composite 30s) last 2 seasons:

Jeremy Fears - Got hurt, but before that was backing up an average upperclassman.
Simeon Wilcher - Barely got minutes on a bubble team.
Layden Blocker - Barely played on a bad Arkansas team.
Garwey Dual - Had draft buzz, and ended up just a rotation guy on a mediocre Providence team even despite injuries.
Taison Chatman - Barely played on a mediocre Ohio State team.
Dedan Thomas - Started at the mid-major level for a mediocre UNLV team, but was overall pretty good.
Miro Little - Barely played for a good Baylor team.
Skyy Clark - Started out of the gate for an Illinois team, wasn't especially good, quit the team halfway through.
Collin Chandler - Went on a Mormon mission.
Seth Trimble - Played less than 10 mpg for struggling under expectations Carolina team.
Freddy Dillone - Redshirted, then barely played as a freshman this year.
Dior Johnson - Arrested and played JuCo.

Not a single one was a high major full season starter.

That's why Hass being back is vital.