SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jeremy McNeil strolled off the Joyce Athletic Center court yesterday afternoon calmly untucking his jersey, shaking hands with some Notre Dame players and ambling toward the Syracuse locker room.

You never would’ve guessed the enigmatic Orangeman just scored the two biggest points of his roller-coaster season. But then again, that’s McNeil: explosive one minute, introverted the next.

McNeil’s tap-in off a Kueth Duany miss with 33 seconds left lifted Syracuse to a 68-65 win over Notre Dame and signified McNeil’s official return to the SU family. In his first action since returning from a short leave of absence, McNeil logged 24 minutes and grabbed eight rebounds while contributing defensively in the closing minutes despite playing with four fouls.

‘Jeremy was doing a pretty good job when he went in the game, so he got a few more minutes,’ said SU assistant Bernie Fine, who works with post players.

McNeil entered with 14:53 left in the first half to replace Craig Forth, who was hampered by laryngitis and an injured left knee. Forth spent most of the game sitting on the bench unfolding tissues in his lap and blowing his nose.

McNeil last played (three minutes) in SU’s 75-60 loss at Georgetown on Jan. 28. He didn’t show up at practice the week following the game and went home to San Antonio. After reconsidering his options and talking to those closest to him, McNeil returned to practice Feb. 6, but didn’t play last Sunday in a 75-63 loss to Pittsburgh.

‘I was about to make a big mistake,’ McNeil said of pondering quitting. ‘I came to my senses. I realized what I was missing.’

And so did the Orangemen. In the Pittsburgh loss, the Panthers whipped the Orangemen on the glass, outrebounding them by 11.

‘We needed his physical toughness out there,’ Duany said. ‘That’s something we’ve been missing.’

All 257 pounds of McNeil were typically nonexistent on offense yesterday. He missed his first shot with 13:03 left in the first half and didn’t take another one until the tap-in that put SU up for good. After that bucket, McNeil pumped his fist and the Syracuse bench erupted.

Despite the offensive shortcomings that have plagued him all year, McNeil contributed mightily against the Irish on the defensive end. When the Irish scrambled to add to their slim lead in the final minutes, they found no openings in the paint. McNeil thwarted any attempt to sneak a pass in to Ryan Humphrey, Notre Dame’s top scoring option.

‘Our big (men) handling the ball in the middle of the zone didn’t make some great decisions,’ Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. ‘And then you’re afraid to catch it in there. You get a little tentative.’

That’s been McNeil’s problem all year — shying away from passes. And Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim has had no qualms about publicly airing out McNeil’s lack of progress. But after yesterday afternoon’s effort, Boeheim cited McNeil’s efforts in practice last week.

Though McNeil’s two shots certainly didn’t present Boeheim with any chances to scowl, his efforts on the glass, where SU needs him most, drew some of the coach’s praise.

‘This was one of our best (rebounding efforts) in a long time,’ Boeheim said. ‘Compared to some of our worst, it was Herculean.’

And at the center of it all was McNeil, the prodigal son. When McNeil returned last week and sat down with Boeheim, the coach told him, ‘It’s time to go to work. Let bygones be bygones. Let’s put all this behind us and forget everything else.’

To which McNeil so typically responded, ‘OK.’

Published on February 17, 2002 at 12:00 pm