Trust leads McNeill to commitment

Hours after telling CycloneReport.com that he had built up a lot of trust in Iowa State’s coach on a weekend official visit to Ames, Houston (Tex.) guard Darius McNeil proved it by committing to the Cyclones.

The 6-foot-3, 170-pound three-star prospect in the Class of 2017 announced his decision on twitter on Labor Day evening.

“After months of prayer and guidance from loved ones, I’ve decided to take my basketball talents to Iowa State University!!” McNeil posted Monday.

Earlier in the day, McNeill said that trust in Steve Prohm was one of the major takeaways from his official visit.

“He just told me that I could trust him,” McNeill said. “All of the players had told me I could trust him, he’s not going to mess over me or nothing, and he’s honest. He said that if I do my part, I’m going to be playing.”

In addition to the Cyclones, McNeill has offers from Baylor, Cincinnati, LSU, NC State, Oklahoma State, SMU, TCU, Tulsa and Washington State, among others.

McNeill said being able to follow in Monte Morris’ footsteps is an appealing part of the Iowa State opportunity, and he likes how he would fit into the Cyclone offense.

“I got to chill with Monte for the whole weekend,” said McNeill. “They treated me like I was already there and a part of the program, so I liked that. Monte said if I come there I could follow in his footsteps and be the man around campus like he was.

“Coach Prohm showed us clips of how they play and it was really the same way our AAU coach had us play. The tempo is very similar. They have the guards come off ball screens and have four-out, one-in. I like playing like that.”

McNeill is Iowa State’s third 2017 commitment, all coming within the past several days. The Cyclones have also received recent commitments from front line players Terrance Lewis and Keyshawn Feazell.