Paul McNeil Jr. Delivers Record-Breaking Week, Earns ACC and National Honors
RALEIGH, N.C. - When a player rewrites the record books, you take notice. When he does it twice in the same week, you start wondering just how high the ceiling really is.
NC State sophomore guard Paul McNeil Jr. just put together one of the most electric stretches in recent program memory - and maybe even ACC history. The Rockingham, N.C., native exploded for a career-high 47 points in NC State’s win over Texas Southern, torching the nets with 11 made three-pointers. That’s not just a personal best - it's a new NC State program record and ties the all-time ACC mark for threes in a single game.
To put that into perspective, the previous NC State record of nine threes had stood untouched since Rodney Monroe lit up UNC Asheville back in 1989. McNeil didn’t just break it - he shattered it.
And in doing so, he became the first ACC player to hit 11 threes in a game since February 2002. That’s more than two decades of ACC basketball - and no one else has done what McNeil just did.
But it wasn’t just about the long ball. McNeil rounded out that performance with 10 rebounds, logging the first double-double of his college career.
His 47 points rank as the fifth-highest single-game total in NC State history, and the most by any ACC player since Monroe dropped 48 on Georgia Tech in 1991. That’s elite company.
And McNeil wasn’t done.
Just a few days later, he led the Wolfpack to a high-major win over Ole Miss in Greensboro, adding another 19 points to his week’s tally - including six more threes. He also chipped in six rebounds and two steals, showing off his all-around game.
For the week, McNeil averaged 33 points per game while shooting a blistering 58.6% from beyond the arc (17-of-29). That kind of efficiency, especially from deep, is the stuff coaches dream about and defenses dread.
Unsurprisingly, the accolades followed. McNeil was named the ACC Player of the Week and also earned national recognition as the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week by the U.S.
Basketball Writers Association. He joined a standout group of honorees that included Christian Anderson (Texas Tech), Ja'Kobi Gillespie (Tennessee), Braden Huff (Gonzaga), and Stephon Payne (Seton Hall).
It’s a well-deserved spotlight for a player who’s quickly becoming one of the most dangerous perimeter threats in the country. His ability to stretch the floor, score in bunches, and now rebound at a high level gives NC State a dynamic weapon heading into conference play.
Next up for McNeil and the Pack? A New Year’s Eve showdown with Wake Forest to tip off ACC action.
That one’s set for noon on ESPN2 - and if McNeil keeps shooting like this, you might want to tune in early. He’s not just heating up - he’s rewriting history, one three-pointer at a time.