Nearing the end of halftime Saturday, one of the referees for the Towson-Georgia State basketball game approached the media table along courtside. He approached a member of the media with a simple request.
“How many points does Neal have?”
Having hit 5 of 7 three-point shots, Towson senior guard Gary Neal was sitting at 28 points, just three less than the entire Georgia State team through the opening 20 minutes. The referee?s jaw gaped open with a quiet “wow.”
Those performances are often overlooked, particularly when they involve talented players, like Neal, who are expected to fulfill lofty expectations. Towson coach Pat Kennedy has seen it plenty of times, having coached currentNBA stars Sam Cassel and Quentin Richardson.
“I?ve been fortunate just to have guys like that,” Kennedy said.
He particularly remembers heading into halftime at Florida State after Cassel, a Dunbar product, had played well in the first half.
“I would be at halftime ranting and raving about stuff, and someone would say, ?Sam has 25,?” Kennedy said. “When they told me [Neal] had 28, I said, ?Get outta here.?”
Kennedy said at the beginning of the season that Neal could earn himself a late first-round NBA draft pick. Since then, Neal has shot 33.8 percent from three-point range while averaging 25.5 points per game. Neal has earned NBA-bound decrees from opposing coaches like George Mason?s Jim Larranaga, Loyola?s Jimmy Patsos and Delaware?s Monte Ross.
His eight three-point field goals Saturday broke the school record, which he had previously set on two occasions.
“I was shooting the ball well in warm-ups,” Neal said. “I got some good looks today, and I was just knocking them down.”
Towson students have created two fan groups dedicated to Neal on the community Web site Facebook.com, including “Gary Neal is a Force of Nature” and “Gary Neal, Please Don?t Leave, You?re All Towson Students Have!”
But not everyone is ready to call Neal an NBA talent. Two online mock drafts listed their predictions for the draft?s two rounds and didn?t include Neal.
Neal has at least four more regular-season games, including Wednesday?s against visiting James Madison, and the Colonial Athletic Association tournament to prove his doubters wrong.
