Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Wayne State University Athletics

Lorenzo Neely 2018 headshot

Lorenzo Neely

UPDATED August 6, 2022

Lorenzo Neely was a member of head coach David Greer's Wayne State coaching staff since the fall of 2005 and served a prior stint during the 2002-03 season.  The 2021-22 campaign was Neely’s 18th season on the Warrior coaching staff.

Neely has been an assistant coach on the collegiate level for 25 years.

He gained his first college assignment as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan during the 1996-97 season.  He remained at his alma mater for two years (1996-98), helping the Eagles enjoy two 20-win seasons while making an appearance in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, after claiming the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship.  The Eagles went 23-10 and were MAC runners-up during the 1996-97 campaign.  While there, Neely coached and mentored several future NBA and professional over seas players such as Earl Boykins, Derrick Dial, James Head and a host of others.

He then moved to Ann Arbor, where he was an assistant at the University of Michigan for two seasons, including an NIT campaign in 2000.  He spent the following two years (2000-02) at Western Michigan and the 2002-03 season at Wayne State.
 
Neely departed Wayne State following the conclusion of the 2002-03 campaign when he was named assistant coach at University of California-Berkeley (2003-04) re-joining his college coach.  Although time spent at California-Berkeley was brief, the Golden Bears enjoyed a "Top 5" recruiting class in the country.
 
Having a wealth of experience with coaching stints in the PAC-12, Big Ten and Mid-American conferences, Neely continues to be totally immersed in all aspects of the Warrior program.  A few areas of emphasis include skill development, scouting, evaluation, game preparation and recruiting.  He also has been heavily involved in other important areas of building a complete program – academic liaison, housing liaison, budgeting, traveling, scheduling and public relations.

He has been a vital key factor in every collegiate program that he has been associated with.  Rather it be program building, coaching, academics, recruitment and development of a number of EMU's top contributors, U of M’s LaVell Blanchard (Big Ten Freshman of the Year, 1999 Gatorade National Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American), Jamal Crawford (NBA), Lou Bullock (Overseas), WMU’s Been Reed (2002 MAC Freshman of the Year and 2004 MAC Player of the Year), Mike Williams, and numerous more.
 
Success is nothing new to Neely as he was a standout basketball player in his own right.  The 1987 Detroit Northern High graduate continued his basketball success while becoming one of the best players in Eastern Michigan history.  The 5-11 Neely was a four-year letterwinner for the Hurons/Eagles from 1987-1991.  He finished his career as the fourth-leading scorer in school history with 1,528 points and all-time leader in assists with 521.  During his tenure as a player, the Eagles posted a cumulative 84-40 mark and set a school record with 26 wins in 1991.

Neely was inducted into the EMU E-Club Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 24, 2014.

As a freshman in 1987-88, he helped his team to its first MAC championship and NCAA Tournament.  In 1990-91 as a senior, he helped EMU to another conference title, as well as their only NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in school history with wins over Mississippi State and Penn State in the tournament.

The 1987-88 MAC Freshman of the Year, Neely was selected first team All-MAC as a senior and second team all-league his junior season.  He paced the Eagles in scoring in 1988-89 with 13.1 PPG, and again in 1989-90 at 13.4 PPG.
 
After graduating, Neely participated in training camps with the NBA's Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers before taking his first coaching position as associate head coach and head junior varsity coach at Redford High School in Detroit from 1992-95.
 
Neely, a Detroit native received his bachelor's degree in communications and business management from Eastern Michigan in 1991.  He and his wife, Tina, have one daughter, Raven and one son, Lincoln.  Raven recently concluded her collegiate career as a member of the University of Louisville women's tennis team.
Â