WKU Basketball: Hilltoppers offer Kentucky Native, Leading JUCO Scorer
Following Western Kentucky’s big win over Wisconsin on Saturday, head coach Rick Stansbury offered JUCO guard Sean McNeil a scholarship.
While attending Sinclair Community College in Dayton, McNeil is averaging 32.3 points, the best in the country among all JUCO players, and 6.1 rebounds per game.
McNeil is a 6'4" freshman who will have three years of eligibility remaining when he choses his next school.
The Union, Ky. native is a 2017 graduate of Cooper High School (S/O to the alma mater) where he helped lead the Jaguars to finish as the state runner-ups in 2017. During his senior season, he averaged 17.0 points and 6.3 rebounds, both of which led the team.
After high school, he attended Bellarmine, but ended up leaving shortly after arriving. In an interview with the Dayton Daily News on the decision to leave the Knights, McNeil said, “Now I am able to say that I made a mistake.”
Earlier this season in a game for Sinclair, McNeil scored 55 points on nine made three-pointers, breaking a school record in the process.
Currently, McNeil holds offers from UNC Asheville, Lipscomb, Evansville, James Madison and Dayton. He recently attended a Xavier game and reportedly has been contacted by multiple Power 5 teams.
Throwing my Cooper bias out the window, McNeil would be a great pickup for next year’s team. As you can see by watching his film and looking at his stats, he is an electric scorer and can find himself pulling down rebounds as well.
If he ends up in Bowling Green, he would join a team filled with Kentucky products with Taveion Hollingsworth (Dunbar) and Jake Ohmer (Scott) expected back, having transfer Carson Williams (Owen County) eligible and commitments from Jackson Harlan (Clinton County) and Isaiah Cozart (Madison Central). Next year’s Hilltopper team could definitely turn into one that the state can get behind even more than they already are.
Another interesting thing to note, McNeil’s high school teammate, Adam Kunkel, currently plays for Belmont. That could make for some interesting games in the future between the two teams in what is turning into my favorite game on the schedule every year.
For more on McNeil, you can follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
