FARMINGTON – No hardwood floor or playground asphalt or even dirt driveway. Ted Neil developed his game with a hoop and a well-mowed lawn in his back yard.

“I think that’s how I got my jump shot,” Neil said.

The 6-5 senior Mt. Blue center later began refining his low-post game under the watch of head coach Jim Bessey and assistant Chris Brinkman after transferring from Mt. Abram his sophomore year.

“You can’t have any better coaching, I don’t think,” he said.

Three winters at the varsity level and a few scrimmages here and there in the off-season and the Cougars have what they have today, one of the toughest big men to guard in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference.

Coming off a junior year where he’d learned to work the high-low game with Brian Wells to perfection, Neil enters a senior season without the graduated Wells and, essentially becomes, Mt. Blue’s lone legitimate low-post threat.

Many expect the Cougars to improve on last year’s one-and-done appearance in Bangor, in large part based upon what Neil will give them as a scorer and rebounder. Bessey expects it based on how Neil has dedicated himself to this season.

“He’s one of those kids that’s put a lot of time in,” Bessey said. “He’s lifted weights. He’s gained 15 pounds. He’s been going at it since last March and he hasn’t taken a lot of time off.”

The Cougars plan on stepping on the gas pedal a little harder this year to take advantage of their quickness, but that style won’t leave Neil looking for scraps. His range makes him the perfect trailer on the break, and his deft footwork in the post makes him a high-percentage option in the set offense.

“For his size he’s a really good shooter, 15-feet on in,” Bessey said. “He’s got 3-point range. Now, because he’s 6-5 and he’s our only 6-5 guy that’s going to be playing regularly, he can’t be out there. We need him to score in the post.”

Neil will probably do a lot of that in the KVAC against other highly-touted centers and power forwards, guys who spent their summers at the five-star basketball camps and traveling the region playing AAU ball.

He could have gone the same route, but he rarely played without his Mt. Blue teammates. In fact, he might have dribbled the ball more on grass than any other surface this past summer.

Neil wasn’t worried about getting enough exposure with recruiters, although he’s drawn plenty of interest from St. Joseph’s, U-Maine Farmington and other Division III schools.

He hopes dedicating his summer to his winter team will help the Cougars exceed even the third place finish conference coaches had them pegged for in their preseason poll.

“It’ll pay off in the long run, just playing with your team,” he said. “We should finish as one of the top teams in our league with the team we have this year. But this league is really good.”

Mt. Blue opens its season tonight against Lewiston, and Neil is ready.

So is Bessey.

“He’s improved quite a lot,” Bessey said, “and I’m anxious to play some games here to see how much.”