UConn's Dan Hurley Describes Immense Pressure On Freshman Liam McNeeley

No freshman is more vital to their team than Liam McNeeley is to the 2024-25 UConn Huskies, a fact that UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley spoke about on Tuesday following a comeback win over Villanova.

McNeeley finished with 20 points and seven rebounds in the victory over Villanova. The freshman stud is now averaging 15.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the Huskies in 18 games played this year.

On Tuesday, Hurley said that McNeeley has a lot more pressure on him as a freshman than Stephon Castle did last year for UConn, as Castle was surrounded by a much more experienced roster.

“What's so impressive about Liam is … he's out there with Solo (Ball), who's a sophomore … he's out there with (Jaylin Stewart), who's a sophomore … he's got (freshman Ahmad Nowell) running around out there … (Jayden) Ross, who's a sophomore,” Hurley said.

“(Stephon Castle) was surrounded by … a super team and so there's so much more pressure on Liam.”

“He wasn't playing well (versus Villanova) up to the point where we were down 12 or 14, but then when he turned it up … we won by seven. He's got more pressure on him than any freshman in the country to play well or else his team is not going to win.”

“What this is going to do for him in terms of … developing all aspects of his game (will benefit him). Just the resilience and having to carry so much weight, and having to make so many plays, and having to be a two-way player, and having to (rebound).”

“Now that he's back, we've got a guy we can get the ball to late in the game that can go make a play, so that certainly helps a lot.”

Duke Blue Devils fans will listen to Hurley’s comments and advocate that their team has a more valuable freshman in Cooper Flagg, who by the way played on the same team as McNeeley in high school.

And while Flagg is the best freshman in the nation, he’s in a more similar team situation to what Hurley was describing with Castle. Duke has a more experienced and more talented roster than UConn, which means the Blue Devils can still win tough games if Flagg isn’t at his best.

The same can’t be said for McNeeley. Everything for the Huskies depends on his production.

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