The pandemic forced ASU’s incoming freshman forward Jamiya Neal to make a near 2,000-mile move away from his Toledo, Ohio home to Phoenix’s Hillcrest Prep academy and its prestigious basketball program. It was also a basketball career move that paid dividends when his new hometown school extended an offer, and resulted in a pledge that Neal made official today as he signed with the Sun Devils.

In our conversation, Neal shared his basketball background, the adjustments he needed to make on and off the court in the last year and his expectations he has from himself as an Arizona State newcomer.

“I’ve probably been playing since I was three years old. I can just remember playing basketball back when I was younger. I just always liked to shoot because that’s all I did. That’s all I wanted was to shoot. My dad had to make me give up the ball – he said I used to always be like ‘I want to shoot,’ and he said, ‘but you gotta dribble, too. How are you gonna get the shots up?’ But obviously now I dribble. I was always the tallest in my grade, but I would say I didn’t ever really play like a big man. I wasn’t ever really in the post, just taller than everybody. I was like 6-4 or 6-5 going into high school.

“I born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. I lived there my whole life until I came to Hillcrest. I was

one of the better players to come out of the city at the time, definitely. But not the best player in the city at the time. It’s very competitive in Ohio. People love to win; they talk trash, they run their stuff. It’s very, very competitive. It’s Midwest basketball. People play defense; it’s tough. It’s not for the weak. I went to Toledo Rogers High School. Colleges started looking at me when I was a freshman in high school. That’s really when it hit me, right there, that I could get a basketball scholarship.

“I’ve noticed a big difference in my game throughout the years. I’ve gotten way more athletic than I used to be. I shoot it way better than I did, and I understand the game more playing against better players. I think I can dribble better; probably in junior high, I did a lot of going right, and now I can go both ways. Growing up in Toledo, my favorite player was Dwyane Wade. I wouldn’t really say I tried to play like Dwyane Wade – I take pieces from a lot of people’s games – but I know I always loved Dwyane Wade. That was my favorite player. A guy whose game I really like in the NBA right now is Jayson Tatum. I can see myself doing a little of what Jayson Tatum does.

“Because of COVID-19 basketball in Ohio was up in the air. School was up in the air, and everything was online for a while. I know coming to Hillcrest, I would have a greater chance to play uninterrupted. It was hard making that big move in the middle of everything (pandemic).

It was really hard on my mom because I’m an only child. It was hard for me, but after about a month or two, I was probably getting homesick, but I then I got to take a bit (of time) home for Christmas and all that stuff. But yeah, it was definitely hard moving to the whole other side of the country as a 17-year old kid. I just tried to stay focused on basketball and school and working out just to keep my head off of it.

“I loved my high school and (Toledo) is my hometown; my friends and family are here. But due to COVID, I was presented the opportunity to go to Hillcrest, and it felt like a good move, and it turned out to be a good move for me. I got to Hillcrest September 9th, 2020. I wouldn’t say it was very hard for me to transition to Hillcrest and play that level of competition. I mean, I played EYBL basketball, and I played good teams with good players in high school, so the transition wasn’t really that hard for me.

“My Arizona State offer came about two months after I came to Hillcrest on November 2nd. I committed to Arizona State on November 16th. Akron, Kent State, GCU, Miami of Ohio, and basically all of the MAC schools were recruiting me, and I also had Robert Morris and Siena.

I didn’t know that much about Arizona State before they offered me. I started watching them more with local TV stuff. A lot of people told me about Arizona State and I met a lot of people that went there for school. I also have a cousin that goes to Arizona State just for school.

“(Former associate head coach) Rashon Burno was the first (ASU) coach to contact me before he left (for a head coaching job at Northern Illinois. It’s hard to turn down when Arizona State wants you, and they’re texting you and calling you every day. It’s Bobby Hurley, and when Bobby Hurley wants you – I was already an underrated talent, and I was just feeling like ‘why wait?’ I got a school, a really good school, and they want me, so why not? It felt right for me.

“Coach Burno leaving made an impact, but I still was familiar with what I was dealing with, so it wasn’t that bad. I was already talking to a lot of coaches there. Other schools, from what I was told, were just trying to see me play more before they really offered me, so I didn’t really care for that. To me, it was like, ‘why wait?’ I know what I can do. Obviously, Arizona State knew what I could do, so it doesn’t matter what other schools thought or think.

“Hillcrest definitely elevated my game a lot. I got better out there playing against better competition and with better competition every day. Coaches pushed you to be hard; we had good trainers and had access to a gym whenever. We have people that actually genuinely wanted to see you succeed. My game grew. Sometimes they say the more you play – you’ve gotta get game reps, too. You get a lot of games in; you play a lot of games, you play a lot of good competition. So, you do all that, and I feel like I came out a way better player than I did coming in. I averaged 18 (points), 7 (rebounds), and 5 (assists).

“It definitely makes me feel more comfortable committing to a school close to me because I’m already kind of familiar with (the state of) Arizona and the area. I’ve been there; I’ve seen the campus a couple of times. I’ve been to my cousin’s dorm a couple of times, and it definitely is a comfort knowing that I’m already here and I don’t have to move again. It’s weird that I’m so close to the school but I haven’t seen the facilities or anything, but it’s COVID, so there’s nothing I can really do about it. There’s a lot of people in my situation. I like the school. It’s a good vibe, it’s a good campus and has a whole lot of stuff on campus to do. There’s a whole bunch of people there; it’s a big school, so I definitely like the atmosphere.

“Coach Hurley says that he likes the whole package. He likes that I’m a competitor, and I want to win. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win, and I think he knows that.”

(Gabe Swartz contributed to this article)

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