New Mexico basketball recruiting: Cullen Neal may end up a Lobo after all

The New Mexico Lobos have three scholarships that recently opened up for the 2013 season, mostly due to Steve Alford taking his two sons with him to UCLA. One local player that could benefit is Cullen Neal, who is the son of new head coach Craig Neal. The younger Neal was not recruited by Alford because he played the same position as his son, Bryce Alford.

Neal would be a good get for New Mexico as he is a three-star and a national top 150 player who averaged 26.5 points per game, and is regarded as a better player then Alford despite him averaging a state record 37.5 points per game.

The one problem of getting the younger Neal is that he has already signed a letter of intent to play for Randy Bennett for the 2013-14 season. Whatever happens, Neal feels he is in a great spot with whatever the decision maybe:

"I sort of feel like I'm in a win-win situation now," Cullen Neal said Wednesday, wearing a Lobos T-shirt. "I love St. Mary's and coach (Randy) Bennett and as of right now I'm still going there, but we (the Neal family) will talk about everything and see what is best. I would love to play for my dad, too, and I love the Lobos."

Neal is clearly wavering and would be fine going to either school. One thing that could push him to stay him is that St. Mary's is on four years of probation which limits scholarships, in-season tournaments and no international tours. This is a big deal since St. Mary's recruits Australia fairly heavily.

As of Wednesday of this past week, Bennett has not responded about if he will allow Neal out of his letter intent. Things could get interesting once April 11 rolls around which is when coaches can start contacting players again.