The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540860
26 ■ THE WOLFPACKER over the summer, competing alongside all of his new teammates, which included nine transfer portal additions and four freshmen. McNeil shot 46 percent on 112 three-point attempts in those runs. Wade and his staff are analytics junkies. Tracking every shot is important for their evaluations of each player. They're look- ing to find the right roles and combina- tions ahead of their first season in Raleigh. With McNeil continuing to pour his triples into the bucket, it became clear that he had developed into one of the Pack's best perimeter shooters. He was one of four players who were above 40 percent from three-point range this preseason. That in itself was intriguing to Wade, who seemed excited to use McNeil's silky- smooth right-handed three-point at- tempts in the upcoming campaign. "With a lot of your best shooters, you have to run offense for them. You have to run a bunch of sets," Wade said. "Paul gets a lot of his shots just in the flow of the game, and they're very, very good shots. He can make contested tough ones, too." Wade hasn't been the only one to no- tice it, either. McNeil appears to be shoot- ing with plenty of self-confidence, and it's rubbed off on his teammates. Just ask Texas Tech transfer forward Darrion Wil- liams, a preseason All-America selection going into his senior year, about the up- and-coming prospect. "When he shoots, you don't think he's going to miss. It's kind of crazy," Williams said. "He's super confident. He knows everybody believes in him, which I don't think he had last year in gathering infor- mation about what happened. He's confi- dent in himself and knows that we all trust him to shoot." This is a brand-new McNeil, one who isn't afraid to make a mistake. He showed off his fearless attitude in NC State's ex- hibition game against South Carolina on Oct. 26, hitting the decisive three-pointer in the closing seconds of an 88-86 victory. That shot could herald a breakout season. "I'm in a way better spot. I know what I want in my life," McNeil said. "All of the little issues are gone. That's my biggest thing right now. Just to get everything out of the way and not feeding into the social media, not worrying about who wants this or who wants that. Just getting rid of a lot of loose ends. Just ball and school. That's all I've got." ■ McNeil was mobbed by teammates after hitting the decisive three-pointer in the final seconds of NC State's 88-86 exhibition victory over South Carolina on Oct. 26. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS