UConn men’s hoops forward Liam McNeeley had his Green Room stay cut short after the Charlotte Hornets traded up to select him with the 29th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
McNeeley becomes the ninth UConn player to be selected in the last five drafts, joining James Bouknight (11th in 2021), Jordan Hawkins (14th in 2023), Donovan Clingan (7th in 2024) and Stephon Castle (4th in 2024) in the first round since 2021.
McNeeley is Connecticut’s 57th all-time NBA Draft selection and 25th overall first round selection. The 6-foot-7 freshman is the fifth Husky selected by Charlotte, joining the likes of Kemba Walker and Emeka Okafor.
Leading up to draft night, McNeeley was mocked roughly around the 17-25 range, slated 20th on both ESPN and NBADraft.net’s latest mock to the Miami Heat and 21st on Tankathon’s mock to the Utah Jazz.
McNeeley seemingly cultivated the same scouting profile from all of the NBA mock draft staple sties; a hard-nosed, gritty competitor that – while lacking top-end athleticism – can be unlocked as a trigger man on the wing for a forward-needy team.
While not the high-volume isolation scorer type (perhaps a function of the Huskies’ lack of a true point guard on the floor at all times), McNeeley offers a fundamentally sound, fiery and passionate skillset that thrives as a catch-and-shoot shooting specialist.
The former consensus five-star recruit displayed a wide-array of angles when launching from mid-range under Dan Hurley, routinely finding the elbow when not letting go from deep. The freshman forward recorded a team-high usage percentage of 25.1 in 27 appearances this year for the Huskies, hampered by an ankle injury suffered against DePaul on New Year’s Day which caused him to miss eight games.
On an average of 32.1 minutes per game, McNeeley’s well-rounded offensive abilities shined through his 86.6% mark from the charity stripe, 13% assist percentage and 1.22 assist/turnover ratio.
McNeeley also developed off the ball (as players tend to do in Hurley’s fluid offense), slipping off screens and popping out on the wing for easy-catch and shoot opportunities in 2024-25, which should transition well to the NBA considering his potential role as a flamethrower at forward.
The 29th overall pick slides in to a Charlotte rotation desperately in need of three-point shooting, pairing nicely alongside fourth overall pick Kon Knueppel (Duke) and star point guard LaMelo Ball.
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