By ADAM ZAGORIA
Some 45 NBA scouts were credentialed for Wednesday’s Baylor-UConn game, and though they didn’t get to see Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe or UConn’s Alex Karaban due to injuries, they came away impressed with another player.
UConn freshman Liam McNeeley went for 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks as the No. 25 Huskies got back on the winning track against elite competition with a 76-72 win over No. 15 Baylor at Gampel Pavilion.
“He’s a bucket,” said one NBA scout. “Sees the game. Very heady. A bit limited in overall physical attributes. Pretty good player.”
The 6-foot-7 freshman from Richardson, Texas initially committed to Mike Woodson and Indiana before flipping to Dan Hurley and UConn. He missed the season-opener with a lower calf strain but is now averaging 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 41% from the field and 34% from deep.
He’s now projected as the No. 10 pick in next summer’s NBA Draft by ESPN.com, and at No. 18 by Tankathon.com.
“McNeeley supplies plus positional size (6-7), perimeter versatility and shooting, sharp feel for the game and a strong winning pedigree,” wrote ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, a ZAGSBLOG alumnus. “Those traits have made him a natural fit at UConn right away — he’s ideal to work in the Huskies’ complex offense, but also has the chops to improvise and make plays when needed. On a team that doesn’t have much traditional playmaking, he’ll be called upon to generate offense.
“McNeeley’s defense and lack of length might not be a selling point, but he’ll be pushed to make strides. He has the makings of a quality role player, and he looks like he should settle in at the college level, which could fast-track his draft prospects.“
UConn lost four players to last year’s NBA Draft, and has lost seven in the last two years. That led, in part, to Dan Hurley and his staff recruiting a four-man class ranked No. 3 overall by 247Sports.com.
“We’ve just lost seven NBA players over the course of two years, which is a lot, so we gotta replenish that high-end, NBA talent, so Kimani [Young] and Luke [Murray], know what they’ve been tasked with,” Hurley said.
Hurley added: “If we keep getting the right type of people, we’re not gonna go anywhere.”
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