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Eldorado High School guard Cullen Neal is now committed to UNM after withdrawing his letter of intent to Saint Mary’s College of California.
He will join his father, the Lobos’ new head coach Craig Neal, at UNM next year. Craig Neal recently replaced Steve Alford, who was offered the head coaching job at UCLA late last month.
“It’s a great thing for (Craig Neal) to get this job because I know he’s wanted it for a while,” Cullen said. “It’s different seeing him on TV all the time, but it’s a cool experience.”
Cullen, a 6-foot-4-inch, 175-pound point guard/shooting guard, averaged 26.4 points per game, 7.1 assists per game, and 4.6 rebounds per game his senior year at Eldorado. He said he hopes to provide a spark off the bench next year for UNM.
Many schools — including Saint Mary’s College, Oregon State University, Portland University, the University of San Francisco and Tulane University — recruited Cullen during his high school career. Saint Mary’s had recruited Cullen since his eighth-grade year at Eisenhower Middle School.
“They were one the first teams that recruited me,” he said. “I knew the teams that recruited me first were the ones that really wanted me.”
UNM did not originally recruit Cullen because Steve Alford had already been recruiting his son, Bryce Alford, who was released from his letter of intent with UNM to follow his father to UCLA. Steve didn’t recruit Cullen because he thought Bryce and Cullen were too similar in their style of play. That allowed Craig to give his son the option to play for him.
“I’m really excited and I can’t wait for the season to start,” Cullen said. “This is going to be an awesome situation.”
Although he isn’t on the roster yet, Cullen said he feels as though he is already part of the UNM basketball team. He exercises at the Rudy Davalos Center every day alongside the Lobos.
“I’m already kind of part of the family,” he said. “I’ve known these guys for a while, so it’s going to be exciting.”
In college basketball, a son playing for his father is rare.
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Creighton has a father-son duo with Greg and Doug McDermott, while Kansas has Bill and Tyler Self. Other schools with father-son connections this past season were Canisius, Detroit, Georgia State and Morgan State.
When Cullen is not on the court, he said he enjoys relaxing and hanging out with his father and younger brother Dalton.
“We go golfing, go to movies, and honestly we watch a lot of basketball,” he said.
Cullen said he plans to keep his relationship with his father strong, and believes playing for him is going to keep them close.
Eldorado head coach Roy Sanchez said he was forced to become a better coach because of Cullen.
“Cullen is the best player I ever coached,” Sanchez said. “His skill level is awesome.”
Sanchez and Cullen developed a close relationship during Cullen’s four-year high school career.
“We’ve gone on trips together. We went to a Saint Mary’s game this past year. I wouldn’t trade that for the world,” Sanchez said. “I’ve been a Lobo fan all my life and now I’m going to take advantage of it and watch him play.”
Sophomore guard Hugh Greenwood said he anticipated Cullen would sign with the Lobos.
“In the back of everyone’s mind, it was pretty obvious that he was going to end up coming here,” Greenwood said. “To get a top-100 guy coming into your program, it’s really exciting.”
Junior college transfer to fill open scholarship
In other recruitment news, head coach Craig Neal announced Arthur Edwards will transfer to UNM next season after playing one season at Northwestern Florida State College. Edwards, a 6-7 point guard/forward, averaged 6.4 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game last season. Edwards was named Second Team All-Panhandle.
“Arthur brings us another student-athlete that is accustomed to winning, and he brings us a lot of versatility,” Craig said.
