Tad Boyle commends UNCG transfer F Justin Neely
Colorado men’s basketball has officially signed former UNC Greensboro forward Justin Neely, sharing a press release on Thursday morning.
Neely, a four-star transfer (No. 141 overall, No. 21 SF), averaged 17.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game last season for the Spartans, being named to the All-Southern First Team. His 32.2% defensive rebounding percentage led the nation. And of his 23 stat lines with rebounding in double-figures last season, he grabbed 16 or more in six of them.
Colorado head coach Tad Boyle spoke on Neely’s rebounding prowess in the release:
“One of our biggest needs coming into this year is to become a better rebounding team, and this kid fits the bill,” Boyle said. “He can get balls in his area, and out of his area, offensive rebound and defensive rebound. Rebounding is one thing that translates from level to level. It translates from high school to college, from college to the professional ranks. If you can rebound, you can rebound.”
On top of attacking the glass, Neely scored nearly 18 points per game on 54.2% shooting from the field. At 220 pounds, he scored inside and drew fouls, shooting 78.4% from the charity stripe on nearly eight free-throw attempts per game. He also shot 31.4% from 3-point range on 1.5 attempts per night.
“You look at the number of (foul) shots he took this year, for a guy his size,” Boyle said in the release. “He scored the ball at a really good clip and rebounded at an exceptional clip. The combination of those two things with the fact that he has experience is something that we really needed because, especially on the front line and even on the perimeter to some degree, it’s hard to compete in the Big 12 with just freshmen.”
The ‘it’ factor
While last year was the peak of Neely’s career, the five-year forward hasn’t always had the easiest path.
Arriving at UAlbany as a freshman in 2021, he won the America East’s Rookie of the Year honors before a knee injury sidelined him as a sophomore. The recovery process took so long that Neely missed most of his junior year as well, hence why he is set to experience a sixth season of college hoops.
Yet, having bounced back in 2024-2025 by winning the America East Sixth Man of the Year award before transferring to UNCG, a tenured Neely stood out to Boyle for reasons beyond his scoring and rebounding abilities.
“The thing that stands out about Justin, we always ask kids, especially ones in the portal, ‘what are you looking for?'” Boyle said in the release. “Justin’s answer was ‘I want to go somewhere where we can win.’ And that’s a very unique answer. A lot of kids say, ‘I’m looking for the best fit’ or ‘I’m looking for a place to play.’ There are a lot of different ways to answer that question, but very few kids answer with ‘I want to win.’ And to me, when you talk about an ‘it’ factor, you talk about a value system that aligns and that’s exactly what we’re looking for as well.”
After entering the transfer portal upon its opening, Neely officially visited Boulder on April 21 before committing to the Buffaloes the next day.
He joins CU’s two other transfers, frontcourt players Noah Feddersen and David Gomez, and three freshmen: guard Alex Dickeson and forwards Rider Portela and Goc Malual. The Buffs, returning four players and a walk-on, have four roster spots open.