TOWSON, Md. – Former Towson University standout Gary Neal will spend time with the men's basketball team during the 2019-20 season.
 
Neal, who played for the Tigers from 2005-07, will be inducted into the 2019 Towson Athletics Hall of Fame during 56th Annual Induction Banquet set for Friday, October 18, the eve of the university's Homecoming Weekend.
 
 "Gary has been a good supporter of our program since I was hired," Towson head coach Pat Skerry said. "He is an outstanding example of what our student athletes and future student athletes we recruit aspire to. Gary earned his degree and played basketball at the highest level possible. His experiences will certainly benefit all associated with our program."
 
Neal is one of three Towson men's basketball players along with Kurk Lee and Jerrelle Benimon to play in a NBA game.
 
Towson's 2007 Male Athlete of the Year, Gary was a First Team All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) selection in his final year in addition to being named a Mid-Major All-American and a first team pick on the NABC and USBWA All-District teams. He is the only former Tiger to play more than one NBA season.
 
He began his professional career abroad in Turkey (top scorer in Turkish League), Spain (All EuroCup Second Team) and Italy (leading scorer in the Italian League) before embarking on a seven-year NBA career, initially with the San Antonio Spurs and later with the Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Bobcats, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks.
 
In 2011 Neal was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Neal was a member of the 2013 San Antonio Spurs that lost in seven games to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. In 2018 he was back in Spain where he led the ACB in scoring and was a first team All-Liga ACB selection.
 
"I'm so excited to be back at Towson University," Neal said. "I am grateful and humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the Towson community. I have known Coach Skerry since he first came to Towson."
 
Neal transferred to Towson from LaSalle University where he scored 1,041 points and was named the 2003 Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year. In less than two seasons at Towson he scored 1,254 points to close out his college career with a total of 2,295 points. He is one of only three players in college basketball history to score 1,000 points at two different Division I schools. He became the 427th player in NCAA basketball history to score over 2,000 career points.
 
In his two years at Towson he started 46 of 49 games and broke 14 program records. He was the Tigers' leading scorer in 48 of his 49 games. In his junior year he missed the first 11 games of the season due to the NCAA transfer rule but still managed to score 444 points for a 26.1 average, earning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Week honors three times and a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.
 
He scored over 40 points in a game twice while at Towson. His 40 points at JMU in his junior year proved to be the only 40-point game scored in the CAA that year. He tied and set the program single game 3-point record four times. In his senior year he was the leading returner scorer in the nation.
 
Neal registered a single season program record 810 points his senior year, for a 25.3 average. His 93 three-point baskets made and 267 field goals made that year are still Towson records. He was among the top 5 scorers in the nation in each his junior and senior years. His two-year average of 25.6 points per game is second to Towson Hall of Famer Kurk Lee's 25.7 career clip.
 
"Gary learning the coaching business has been something he and I have discussed over the last couple of years as his playing career was winding down," Skerry said. "We have a saying 'once a Tiger always a Tiger."