{"id":122899,"date":"2025-06-25T06:42:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T06:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/122899\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T06:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T06:42:14","slug":"back-to-100-health-uconns-liam-mcneeley-feels-he-proved-his-potential-during-pre-nba-draft-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/122899\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to 100% health, UConn’s Liam McNeeley feels he proved his potential during pre-NBA Draft process"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2013 Liam McNeeley<\/a> never really got back to 100 percent after he sprained his ankle<\/a> early in the Big East season.<\/p>\n

But his competitiveness wouldn\u2019t let him sit any longer and UConn needed him desperately. In February, about seven weeks after his injury and a little over a week after he returned, Dan Hurley said there was \u201cmore pressure on him than any freshman in the country to play well, or else his team is not going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNeeley had no choice but to get out of his comfort zone, have the ball in his hands more and take on a high-usage role at the highest level of college basketball. It was much different from what he\u2019d gotten used to the previous two years at Montverde Academy<\/a>, where he was primarily a shooter and a floor-spacer on arguably the greatest high school team of all-time, one that had four of its five starters invited to attend Wednesday\u2019s NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

So, while he was still named Big East Freshman of the Year, his shooting numbers took a hit and, because of the ankle, which never got out of a brace, his athleticism did too. Those are the areas of his game that have been most critiqued as \u201cweaknesses,\u201d throughout the draft process.<\/p>\n

But McNeeley sat comfortably at the Lotte New York Palace hotel in Manhattan for Tuesday\u2019s NBA Draft Media Day. He\u2019s back to being 100 percent healthy and worked out for 10 NBA teams, showing that he is a better shooter than the \u201cmisleading,\u201d he said, 31.7% he shot from 3 at UConn and that his competitiveness \u2013 stoked by two fiery coaches in Hurley and Kevin Boyle \u2013 is legit.<\/p>\n

His athleticism, he says, is the most underrated part of his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m finally healthy and I\u2019m showing all of these people what I can really do at 100 percent \u2026 I was hurt the second half of the year and I didn\u2019t really get to show it, couldn\u2019t move hardly at all,\u201d he said. \u201cBut now that I\u2019m 100 percent healthy I\u2019ve been getting on the rim, making plays, blocking shots, and I\u2019m excited for people to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

All signs point to McNeeley hearing his name called as UConn\u2019s fifth first-round pick, ninth selection overall, during Hurley\u2019s tenure. His name has moved around quite a bit on mock drafts, seeming to settle anywhere from just after the lottery to more in the middle of the first round, the 16-25 range.<\/p>\n

In mock drafts the week, CBS Sports<\/a> and The Athletic<\/a> projected McNeeley to go to Memphis with the 16th pick, ESPN<\/a> had him going to Washington at No. 18, USA Today<\/a> projected Brooklyn at No. 19 and Yahoo Sports<\/a> had the furthest slide, to Orlando at No. 25.<\/p>\n

McNeeley doesn\u2019t have a preference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to be nervous about how high I was gonna go or where I was gonna go in the draft,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s really about fit and how I can help a team. I\u2019m really excited, no nerves anymore\u2026 Comfortable is a great word, excited, very grateful. I\u2019m just happy to be here, I\u2019m living the dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018He really stepped forward\u2019: Jay Bilas\u2019 take on UConn\u2019s Liam McNeeley ahead of NBA Draft<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Unlike the last two years, this draft won\u2019t be so UConn-heavy. Still, McNeeley has plenty of connections.<\/p>\n

He met up with his Montverde teammates Monday night and explored Times Square with his senior year roommate, Derik Queen, who quipped that Cooper Flagg, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick, couldn\u2019t go because he needs a security detail. Asa Newell is also in the city and projected to be picked in the first round. McNeeley answered a few questions from his childhood friend, former Texas guard Tre Johnson, as his availability wrapped up, then gave up his seat to former Yale-turned-Michigan center Danny Wolf, who he became good friends with during the pre-draft process.<\/p>\n

Hurley is expected to be at the Barclays Center Wednesday night with UConn assistants Kimani Young and Luke Murray, along with roughly 30 family members and friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Hurley told me I was going to be a great NBA player. I gave him many thanks for allowing me to play for him, and he gave me many thanks for playing for him,\u201d McNeeley said. \u201cI\u2019m a Husky for life. I\u2019m very grateful I got to do that. We had an up-and-down season, I had some really good games, I had some really bad games, but I think I\u2019ve always played my hardest every game and I hope the fans know that. I\u2019m gonna carry on that Husky culture when I\u2019m in the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: June 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2013 Liam McNeeley never really got back to 100 percent after he sprained his ankle early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[30,975,7,217,926,225,925,2495,803,2680,24964,921,2679,24965,14249,6,12,231,772,1544,2681],"class_list":{"0":"post-122899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-2025-nba-draft","9":"tag-asa-newell","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-college-basketball","12":"tag-connecticut-news","13":"tag-cooper-flagg","14":"tag-ct-news","15":"tag-dan-hurley","16":"tag-derik-queen","17":"tag-hartford-courant","18":"tag-kimani-young","19":"tag-liam-mcneeley","20":"tag-local-news","21":"tag-luke-murray","22":"tag-montverde-academy","23":"tag-nba","24":"tag-nba-draft","25":"tag-ncaa","26":"tag-ncaa-basketball","27":"tag-ncaab","28":"tag-uconn-mens-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114742646742836854","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}