Justin Gainey talks about the importance of bringing back Paul McNeil, and what that process was like

No, it was a big deal and we’re excited to have him back. I’m excited to be a part of his continued growth and development. As you look at his career, his trajectory is just going up. I’m excited to work with him and help him become who he wants to become as a basketball player and as a young man.

We all know what he does at a high level, and he does it as well as or better than anybody who’s ever done it here before. It’s about continuing to add to what he already does while also moving it forward.

Gainey on building the roster before Paul McNeil Jr made his decision

When my staff and I built the roster, we put a priority on shooting, and I think we did a good job addressing that across the board. Paul fits into that perfectly, so it ended up working out really well with our goals. His size and positional size are really attractive too. He can play multiple guard positions, which made him even more valuable. We were looking for good size and shooting, and Paul checked both boxes nicely.

Gainey on the statement his return made for the program

My vision for the program is really taking care of the state, recruiting North Carolina hard, and trying to keep the best players in the state home. For that reason, along with what he’s done on the court, this was a big deal. I don’t know if you could say there’s a better shooter in the state of North Carolina than Paul McNeil right now. On top of that, he’s one of our own. He’s an NC State guy. So it was even more important to keep one of ours home.

You combine those things with my familiarity with him. I was the first coach to offer him back in the 10th grade when I was at Tennessee. I remember being in those back gyms at one of those Adidas events, watching him play and believing in him then. I’ve followed him all the way through, even in college. I feel like I have a really good understanding of who he is as a player and as a person. I understand where he’s come from.

His freshman year might not have been as smooth, and then his sophomore year probably exceeded expectations. Now it’s junior year, and here’s what you can expect. For all those reasons, it was huge to keep him home. I think we’ll get a better feel for the residual effect as we continue recruiting and bringing guys to campus, but I already know different people in the grassroots community have been excited about it. They’ve been calling and saying how happy they are that we were able to keep him.

Gainey on the conversations during Paul’s decision-making process

The conversations started out as basketball, but as we kept talking they went into a lot of different areas: family and background, relationships, trust, legacy, all of those things. We talked often, and Paul was great through the whole process. I was never once frustrated or upset with him. It was his process, and everybody is entitled to their own process. At the end of the day, he needed to be at peace with the decision, no matter what he chose. I didn’t want it to feel like the coach convinced him. I wanted it to be organic.

He talked to a lot of other people, as good players do. But the conversations took a lot of different paths, and it was good. I think it’ll help me as I coach him because I got to learn a lot of in-depth things about Paul.