Grading out the 2008 Marquette Golden Eagles: Wings

Jerel McNeal, 19.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists

It was going to be almost impossible for Jerel McNeal to live up to expectations when the season started, but like he has done for the last four years, he surprised us once again. In a year with many ups and downs, the McNeal remained constant with his scoring presence, tenacity on defense, and overall team leadership.

He started the year very slow during non-conference play, and it almost seemed like he played to his competition. Wesley Matthews rushed out of the gate in Buzz Williams’ new system, but even though Jerel averaged just 17 points per game, no one panicked.

While his game was not really struggling in the early portion of the season, it just wasn’t the take-over mentality the Golden Eagles had expected from the senior.

All that changed once he took the court in conference play.

He had 24 points in a huge win over Villanova on New Year’s Day, and had that magical performance from long distance in the Cincinnati win, connecting on all seven three-pointers he took. After a 16-point performance against Rutgers (that Matthews really dominated), he would go on to score 20+ points in nine straight contests on his way to breaking George Thompson’s scoring record at Marquette University.

McNeal also had a career high in assists with 4.5 and really improved his all around game, using his driving ability to open up perimeter jump shots.

As it was for every player on the Marquette team, the injury to Dominic James drastically changed McNeal’s play. When the senior point guard went down, McNeal knew it was going to be on him to keep the team focused off the court, as well as keeping them in games on the court.

His play really struggled to end the year after James went down, albeit against very good defenses in Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse.

Still, his shot towards the end of regulation against the Orange on senior day was the McNeal that Golden Eagles fans remembered and will definitely go down as one of his many memorable clutch shots.

In the NCAA Tournament, McNeal struggled against Utah State for much of the game, looking sluggish and tired. However, when Marquette went down six late in the game, a light must have went off in his head that this was do-or-die and it was on his shoulders to make sure his team would survive.

He ended the game with just 14 points, but down six he connected on his next two shots and, along with Wesley Matthews’ bucket, put Marquette up for good in the game.

In the second round, he was unstoppable and was the reason the game was close all the way up until the final buzzer. He went off for a career-high 30 points while making clutch free throws and deep three-pointers all game.

Like his other shots all year, his three pointer at the end of the half was huge for Marquette, bringing them within 11 and giving them some momentum they clearly used to open the second half.

There were times where McNeal looked very average in the year, mostly after the injury to James. Whether it was trying to do too much or trying to compensate for what the team had lost, he looked out of sync at end the year, and rightfully so.

He was asked to basically take over the point guard role (in the sense of running the offense) while still being asked to