2024 Recruiting: Liam McNeeley

[UconnU]

No, it's because she's his mom.

That's how it works with motherhood.

This is becoming a bit of a trend where we recruit players whose mothers were D1 college basketball players. Clingan, Castle, Flagg, McNeeley…

 

[Kenny11]

This is becoming a bit of a trend where we recruit players whose mothers were D1 college basketball players. Clingan, Castle, Flagg, McNeeley…

There is some crazy statistic out there for nba players having either one or both parents as former d1 or professional athletes. And it’s only growing

 

[AllHusky]

There is some crazy statistic out there for nba players having either one or both parents as former d1 or professional athletes. And it’s only growing

They have just made incredible discoveries in this new science, they are calling it GENETICS

 

[KembaRunner]

And Momma Castle.

And Kemba, Shabazz and Boat’s moms

 

[TheShot1990]

Exactly, the only freshman who was really ready from day 1 to be the starting point guard at UConn in the last 35+ years was El-Amin.

Chris Smith?

 

[businesslawyer]

Chris Smith?

Smith, like Doron, came in as a combo guard. Plus the team that Chris Smith joined did not have a talent level nearly equivalent to what the talent level at UConn would thereafter become.

 

[husky429]

They have just made incredible discoveries in this new science, they are calling it GENETICS

It's a bit more than that too. Sons and daughters of ballers have access to great training resources from more money, parents know about skills they need to learn, kids are more likely to specialize their sport early, etc.

I coached the nephew of an NBA HOF'er and the kid wasn't particularly athletic, but he'll be playing college ball because his uncle has been paying for 1:1 training, a strength coach, and the best AAU team he could get him on since he was 7. Kid never played any other sport.

 

[TheHorde]

And Kemba, Shabazz and Boat’s moms

While they can’t comment on how Hurley coaches because their sons played for Calhoun or Ollie, they CAN comment on how UConn is a true brotherhood and family. Good point.

 

[boog204]

Well, no, not really.

He came in and was our second scoring option behind Rip and the secondary ball handler next to Ricky. Khalid was great, but he stepped into an amazing situation.

Biggest what-if with Khalid…what if he had stuck around for one more year and got to pair with Caron for a season?

Khalid was the secondary ballhandler? That's not my memory at all. While Ricky certainly held some of the playmaking duties, Khalid was still the defacto PG on that squad. We love Ricky now, but he took a lot of abuse in those days on these boards and was still "Rickety" Moore at that point and had a really up and down year his soph year as the primary PG.

 

[kansashusky]

Kansas beat writer reporting KU no longer pursuing Liam. Sounds like Michigan vs UConn.

 

[TheHorde]

Kansas beat writer reporting KU no longer pursuing Liam. Sounds like Michigan vs UConn.

Huge if true

 

[auror]

Kansas beat writer reporting KU no longer pursuing Liam. Sounds like Michigan vs UConn.

And Alabama?

 

[Inyatkin]

Well, no, not really.

He came in and was our second scoring option behind Rip and the secondary ball handler next to Ricky. Khalid was great, but he stepped into an amazing situation.

Biggest what-if with Khalid…what if he had stuck around for one more year and got to pair with Caron for a season?

What? El-Amin was absolutely the primary ball handler, ahead of Ricky Moore, from day 1.

 

[FlexOnEm]

Kansas beat writer reporting KU no longer pursuing Liam. Sounds like Michigan vs UConn.

More like UConn vs. Alabama with Michigan as a dark horse. Bodes very well for us that we’re getting the first visit of the three.

 

[HooperScooper]

No, it's because she's his mom.

That's how it works with motherhood.

Yes, of course. But in addition she played D1 basketball so she probably has more knowledge of the process and is more interested. Remember how Flagg's mother, who played D1 basketball at Maine, ran her son's recruiting process? And yes, mothers should be involved in their sons' recruiting, but you don't hear much about the mother's involvement in most recruitments.

 

[upstater]

There is some crazy statistic out there for nba players having either one or both parents as former d1 or professional athletes. And it’s only growing

Half of it is genetics.
BUT...
the amount of money involved in training youth athletes, paying tuition to top teams, getting them strength and conditioning, high schools which support sports enough that they make allowances for missing academics, and then to top it all off, TRAVEL everywhere... well, that's what it takes.

 

[controlfade]

Kansas beat writer reporting KU no longer pursuing Liam. Sounds like Michigan vs UConn.

I posted this the other day> Kansas went all in on the Alabama guard and pretty much have him locked up and dropped out on McNeeley.

 

[upstater]

It's a bit more than that too. Sons and daughters of ballers have access to great training resources from more money, parents know about skills they need to learn, kids are more likely to specialize their sport early, etc.

I coached the nephew of an NBA HOF'er and the kid wasn't particularly athletic, but he'll be playing college ball because his uncle has been paying for 1:1 training, a strength coach, and the best AAU team he could get him on since he was 7. Kid never played any other sport.

A kid from a former soccer team my daughter played on got a D1 scholarship to a top school this year. Last I saw her when she was 13, she was the worst on the team, unathletic too, could not run properly. Her development is not a matter of LATE growth or growing into a more adult body. She comes from a very rich family. Father has a jet. Well, she got all the training in the world, trains on her skills for many hours every day, and has translated that to a hustle mentality on the field. Good for her, works very hard. Now she gets rewarded. This is a mix of very hard work by the kid and money that won her that scholarship.

 

[Verne]

Kansas seems to be in on most big players in the portal. It seems like Self and his staff/collective are throwing as much as they can against the wall and hoping something sticks.

 

[husky429]

A kid from a former soccer team my daughter played on got a D1 scholarship to a top school this year. Last I saw her when she was 13, she was the worst on the team, unathletic too, could not run properly. Her development is not a matter of LATE growth or growing into a more adult body. She comes from a very rich family. Father has a jet. Well, she got all the training in the world, trains on her skills for many hours every day, and has translated that to a hustle mentality on the field. Good for her, works very hard. Now she gets rewarded. This is a mix of very hard work by the kid and money that won her that scholarship.

That's particularly prevalent in most girls sports and boys lacrosse for whatever reason in my experience. But especially girls soccer. When I worked in a rich area, the girls in town were constantly playing soccer. I coached their team one year even though I hate soccer and know nothing about it, and we didn't lose a single game. My current school in the hood couldn't even get enough girls to try out to form a team. Middle and lower-class families aren't investing in those sports for whatever reason.

 

[Tenspro2002]

It's exactly the sort of thing that never broke for us from 1990-2003 that began to from 2004-2023.

Getting light-years off topic, but I made this point in another thread weeks ago:

People complain that we've gotten easy paths through the Tournament in our last few runs -- our region fell apart in 2004, faced 8 seeds for the championship in 2011 and 2014, faced 5 seeds in the Final Four in 2023 -- but we got absolutely none of that luck in the 90s and early 00s.

We never had a 1 seed knocked out early, we almost always faced the toughest possible seeds in the later rounds -- 1994 lost to chalk 3 seed Florida in Miami, 1995 lost to chalk 1 seed and eventual champ UCLA in California, 1998 lost to chalk 1 seed UNC in NC, 2002 lost to chalk 1 seed Maryland, 2003 lost to chalk 1 seed Texas in Texas.

 

[UConnSwag11]

 

[superjohn]

That's particularly prevalent in most girls sports and boys lacrosse for whatever reason in my experience. But especially girls soccer. When I worked in a rich area, the girls in town were constantly playing soccer. I coached their team one year even though I hate soccer and know nothing about it, and we didn't lose a single game. My current school in the hood couldn't even get enough girls to try out to form a team. Middle and lower-class families aren't investing in those sports for whatever reason.

Soccer is the cheapest sport to play besides running, it's too bad people in the hood don't care about it. It's not looked at as a cool sport by people in the hood and there's no Americans they look up to who currently or use to play the sport. It's not even looked at as particularly cool to Americans living in the burbs and sticks either. Most kids play it out there growing up but quit as they get older or switch to football if they have athletic talent.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Soccer is the cheapest sport to play besides running, it's too bad people in the hood don't care about it. It's not looked at as a cool sport by people in the hood and there's no Americans they look up to who currently or use to play the sport. It's not even looked at as particularly cool to Americans living in the burbs and sticks either. Most kids play it out there growing up but quit as they get older or switch to football if they have athletic talent.

Around the world it’s the cheapest sport, but America has made it fairly expensive

 

[Greedo]

Soccer is the cheapest sport to play besides running, it's too bad people in the hood don't care about it. It's not looked at as a cool sport by people in the hood and there's no Americans they look up to who currently or use to play the sport. It's not even looked at as particularly cool to Americans living in the burbs and sticks either. Most kids play it out there growing up but quit as they get older or switch to football if they have athletic talent.

It is the cheapest to technically just play - you just need a ball. You can set up shoes as goals or whatever you want. However, in the U.S., to become a great player you need coaching and coaching is extremely expensive at the highest levels. A local youth club near me charges $3,000 per player per season (3 seasons, so $9,000 for the year). If you want to be seen by college coaches and play in showcase tournaments, etc. you need to play on those elite teams. College coaches don't pay any attention to high school teams because high school soccer is abysmal.

When I was playing in the 2000's, clubs cost about $1500 - $2000 per year, and prices have skyrocketed since then.