Neal the latest from Vancouver
Mike Warchol
WashingtonPreps.com
Vancouver has had some pretty darn good guards over the years. Guys like Dan Dickau, James Davis, and Derek Raivio have all filled it up in Southwestern Washington on their way to a high-major college scholarship. Cory Neal is hoping to be the next in line.
The strong 6-foot-2 point guard from Evergreen High School in Vancouver is still operating a bit under the radar, but he's working towards picking things up during the evaluation month of July. A couple of high-major schools will be watching.
This spring and summer, Neal is playing with the Inner City Players, an AAU team just south of the border. He's been a little limited in which tournaments he's been able to play due to injury, but he's happy with the way things have been going. "It's been going pretty positive - I'm getting a lot of opportunities," Neal said. "I think things are going pretty good for me. So far, I've only played in Houston at the Kingwood Classic and we did pretty good in that - we did 2-2. Our defense is going pretty good and so is our offense."
Neal is playing the point with ICP and has been given the freedom to handle and create with the basketball as he pleases. He has enjoyed this immensely, and is continuing to work towards improving his game. "Right now, my goals are to get better individually and help get my teammates better," Neal said. "Make the people around me better."
Neal is hoping that some big performances at tournaments in Las Vegas and Los Angeles during the next month will get him noticed by college coaches. So far, there have been a few bites - including two from high-major conferences. "I have a few colleges looking at me - Eastern Washington, Montana, Florida State, and Washington State," Neal said. "I kind of like Florida State. They're in the ACC and it's a good conference. But Eastern Washington and Montana are pretty good and are in a good conference too. Eastern is pretty good every year and are usually conference champions."
Still, it's early and Neal is open with everything. When it all comes down to it, he just wants to go to a program at the next level that's the right fit. "Right now, I'm looking for who has a good program and what the coach offers," Neal said. "Who will offer me the best opportunity."
