Family ties: UConn star freshman Liam McNeeley’s connections to Drew and Walker Timme
UConn freshman forward Liam McNeeley has literally walked in Drew Timme’s shoes. And wore Timme’s old T-shirts.
McNeeley put up a Timme-like stat line Saturday with 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the Huskies’ 77-71 victory over Gonzaga in front of 18,933 mostly pro-UConn fans inside Madison Square Garden.
McNeeley and Timme are from Richardson, Texas, in north Dallas. There’s a five-year gap between the former Gonzaga star and the 19-year-old McNeeley, one of the nation’s top freshmen.
McNeeley played one season with Timme’s younger brother, Walker, at J.J. Pearce High in Richardson but the connections to the Timme brothers go back to when Liam was in elementary school.
“Oh gosh, I feel like it was probably in fifth or sixth grade when Liam started getting Drew’s and Walker’s hand-me-downs,” said Liam’s mother Ashley Elsey, in between snapping pre-game pictures of her son from Section 106 Saturday night in Madison Square Garden. “Liam had big feet and they have big feet and they started sharing shoes with us.
“Liam is a size 16 now, Drew is maybe a 16 or 17 and Walker was like a 14. They’re both just great kids. They’d give us a big trash bag of shoes and shirts and he was so excited to wear’s Drew’s shirts.”
As a youngster, McNeeley attended several camps that Drew served as an instructor. McNeeley played his freshman year at Pearce High and his sophomore season at John Paul II High before spending his last two years at Montverde (Florida) Academy, the prep powerhouse that produced former Zags’ Andrew Nembhard and Filip Petrusev and current GU point guard Ryan Nembhard, Andrew’s younger brother.
Liam, at 6-feet-7 and 210 pounds, and Drew, 6-10 and 235, play different positions but both are versatile scorers. Timme, Gonzaga’s all-time leading scorer, plays for the NBA G League Stockton Kings. Walker is a redshirt sophomore forward at College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. Liam is listed as a lottery pick in several 2025 NBA mock drafts.
“Drew plays in the post and Liam is a guard,” Elsey said, “but growing up and watching somebody like Drew, who is so good at dominating and was always such a great teammate and played an all-around game, I think that probably had a good influence on Liam.”
McNeeley is the third five-star recruit from the 2024 class to line up against Gonzaga, joining Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe and Arizona State’s Jayden Quaintance.
“He was great,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of McNeeley. “He did a great job on the glass, did a great job going downhill. He’s a big guard who can finish.”
McNeeley originally committed to Indiana, but a UConn visit prompted a change of plans.
“We just felt like it was the right decision to re-examine what we were doing and we had a chance to get to know the UConn coaching staff,” said Elsey, mentioning each staff member by name. “It felt like such a perfect fit.”
The obvious question: Did Gonzaga try to recruit McNeeley?
“They for sure did,” Elsey said. “What Drew did at Gonzaga, in our community we’re so proud of him.”
The Timmes live about 1½ miles from Elsey’s home in Richardson. Elsey’s introduction to the Timme family was through Matt, Drew’s and Walker’s dad.
“Matt played at SMU and my brother and brother-in-law also played at SMU,” said Elsey, who owns Minerva Consulting. “Matt is a little older than them, but they’d go back to SMU and play pick-up games so my brother and brother-in-law knew Matt.”
Elsey’s daughter Ava and Walker and Drew were classmates at Pearce High. Elsey stays in contact with Megan, Matt’s wife, with frequent texts.
“Megan is on the school board or has been,” Elsey said. “Both of them are just incredible people.”