It was an emotional Wednesday night for Liam McNeeley and his family, who shed tears of joy after the former UConn freshman was selected 29th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-7 forward will suit up for the Hornets,

Every year, there are players in the NBA Draft who are taken higher than expected on draft night, and players who fall further than their initial projection. Former UConn Huskies star Liam McNeeley was an example of the ladder.

Liam McNeeley became UConn’s 24th first-round NBA Draft pick all-time when he heard his name called as the 29th overall pick, which was traded to the Charlotte Hornets.

It was an action-packed first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center with loads of surprises -- risers, fallers, trades and some head-scratching picks. Of the fallers, none fell harder than freshmen Liam McNeeley and Kasparas Jakucionis,

Tre Johnson and Liam McNeeley, members of the 2025 NBA draft class, played for a Dallas-based youth basketball team that had several players make it to the college level.

Liam McNeeley’s been working since Kindergarten, though his year at UConn, for this moment, to be shared with his mother at the NBA Draft.