By the start of 1947, McNeely, nicknamed "The Man of a Million Shots", was leading the nation in scoring by a margin of 116 points. He missed three games in January 1947 after suffering a fractured wrist. McNeely led his team to a school-best 30–4 record, won the conference championship and earned third-team All-American honors after leading the NAIA in scoring with 725 points. He was named to the All-NAIA first-team alongside teammate E. F. Parham. McNeely held the Texas Wesleyan single season scoring record for 62 years until Chris Berry had 740 points in the 2008–09 season. Regarded as a "deadly" free throw shooter, he also held the Texas Wesleyan record for most free throws made with 213 until that too was surpassed by Berry in the 2008–09 season with 216.