NC State Basketball Rookie Comes Out Hot in First Career Start

Entering the NC State basketball home game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (19-7, 11-4 ACC) in the Lenovo Center on Saturday afternoon, Wolfpack freshman Paul McNeil was averaging only 2.9 points per game.

The 6-foot-5, 180-pound guard, a former four-star prep from Rockingham, N.C., almost doubled that amount in the first 64 seconds alone in what was his first start for the Wolfpack (10-16, 3-12 ACC), as he replaced NC State's top scorer, Marcus Hill, in the lineup.

McNeil, who has averaged only 6.1 minutes across his 19 appearances under Kevin Keatts, delivered a tip-in bucket on the Wolfpack's first possession. On the next trip down 30 seconds later, he splashed a three versus the then-scoreless Demon Deacons.

Fire Us Up, P2‼️

📺: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/ILQEAiszaV
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) February 22, 2025

And McNeil's hot hand was contagious, at least for a minute. NC State senior guards Michael O'Connell and Dontrez Styles responded to the "Paul McNeil" chants with threes of their own to give the Wolfpack an 11-0 advantage just over three minutes into the contest.

At the time of this article's publishing, McNeil had five points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal, and zero turnovers across 10 minutes of action. The Wolfpack led, 17-16, with 9:45 to play in the first half.

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