You can’t hope to control Paul McNeil Jr. You can only hope to contain him.
That’s the takeaway from McNeil’s performance on Tuesday night, as the North Carolina State commit poured in 71 points for Richmond County (Rockingham, North Carolina). In fact, McNeil by himself outscored the opposition in the win by Rockingham.
The scoring output set a state record, best a mark that had been in place for nearly three-quarters of a century. The previous mark was 67 points set by Bob Poole of Clayton High School (Clayton, North Carolina).
NCHSAA history was made on the basketball court last night!🏀@HoopsRichmond Senior, Paul McNeil @PaulMcneilJr, just broke a 74-year old NCHSAA basketball single-game scoring record with 71 Points. pic.twitter.com/WEDguGBxSR
— NCHSAA (@NCHSAA) January 17, 2024
Not surprisingly, Richmond County beat Lee County (Sanford, North Carolina) 118-52. With the win, Richmond County has won four straight games and is now 11-5.
A four-star guard, McNeil is ranked the No. 62 player in the nation by 247Sports. In the class of 2024, he is the seventh-highest-ranked recruit in North Carolina. He was a highly after recruit, with offers that included Alabama, Georgetown, Illinois, Indiana, Miami, Missouri, St. John’s and Virginia Tech among others.
