Former Arizona Basketball point guard and now former NBA rookie T.J. McConnell, shined in the NBA for the 2015-16 season.
Media noticed his tenacity and fearless play, but their attention didn’t come automatically or quickly, he had to prove himself over and over again. He wasn’t originally invited to the NBA Combine at first, but somehow he ended up being included much to our delight. As the year had progressed, we could not get enough watching him play.
Wildcats fans held their breath during the 2015 NBA draft hoping to hear his and Brandon Ashley’s names, but it didn’t happen. Then the refreshing news came out that T.J. actually signed on as a partially guaranteed free agent with the Sixers, where he played with the team for Summer League play in Vegas. Ashley was going to play in Summer League for the Lakers, ended up tearing it up in the D-League.
T.J. gave it his all, showing a ton of character, and being a leader on and off the bench. Heck, he was just happy to be there, and he didn’t squander his opportunity to prove himself. He was not only supportive on the bench, but showed the world he was a leader on the court as well. He leaves it all out there when he plays.
Eventually, McConnell made it on to the roster over other players who were actually drafted by the Sixers organization. ‘Against all odds’ seems to be a theme for Arizona Athletes these days.
At season’s end, T.J. found himself topping two major rookie stats rankings. There were post-game interviews where his head coach would speak of McConnell as the shining light on his team or any particular game.
This Arizona Wildcat NBA rookie holds the top spot in recorded steals in the 2015-16 regular season at 95. Second place went to D’Angelo Russell who stole the ball two times less than T.J., but he did it in twice as many playing minutes! The next man down is Nikola Jokic with 79 in 796 playing minutes.
| Totals | Shooting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Age | Tm | AST | STL ▾ | PTS | FG% | 2P% | 3P% | WS |
| 1 | T.J. McConnell | 23 | PHI | 367 | 95 | 493 | .470 | .499 | .348 | 1.9 |
| 2 | D’Angelo Russell | 19 | LAL | 266 | 93 | 1054 | .410 | .447 | .351 | 0.0 |
| 3 | Nikola Jokic | 20 | DEN | 189 | 79 | 796 | .512 | .541 | .333 | 6.7 |
| 4 | Justise Winslow | 19 | MIA | 117 | 68 | 502 | .422 | .471 | .276 | 2.5 |
| 5 | Emmanuel Mudiay | 19 | DEN | 372 | 65 | 872 | .364 | .379 | .319 | -2.1 |
| 6 | Raul Neto | 23 | UTA | 174 | 62 | 476 | .431 | .453 | .395 | 1.8 |
| 7 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 20 | MIN | 161 | 58 | 1503 | .543 | .559 | .341 | 8.3 |
| 8 | Stanley Johnson | 19 | DET | 118 | 55 | 593 | .375 | .410 | .307 | 0.6 |
| 9 | Larry Nance Jr. | 23 | LAL | 44 | 54 | 349 | .527 | .541 | .100 | 2.2 |
| 10 | Kristaps Porzingis | 20 | NYK | 93 | 53 | 1028 | .421 | .454 | .333 | 4.3 |
| 11 | Jerian Grant | 23 | NYK | 177 | 50 | 426 | .394 | .454 | .220 | 0.8 |
| 12 | Willie Cauley-Stein | 22 | SAC | 37 | 48 | 463 | .563 | .567 | .000 | 3.8 |
| 13 | Devin Booker | 19 | PHO | 200 | 44 | 1048 | .423 | .464 | .343 | 1.9 |
| 14 | Mario Hezonja | 20 | ORL | 109 | 39 | 478 | .433 | .504 | .349 | 0.9 |
| 15 | Frank Kaminsky | 22 | CHO | 98 | 38 | 606 | .410 | .455 | .337 | 3.3 |
| 16 | Josh Richardson | 22 | MIA | 73 | 36 | 341 | .452 | .446 | .461 | 2.5 |
| 17 | Rashad Vaughn | 19 | MIL | 39 | 29 | 217 | .305 | .319 | .293 | -0.8 |
| 18 | Marcelo Huertas | 32 | LAL | 182 | 26 | 237 | .422 | .479 | .262 | -0.1 |
| 19 | Nemanja Bjelica | 27 | MIN | 83 | 26 | 308 | .468 | .564 | .384 | 1.9 |
| 20 | Trey Lyles | 20 | UTA | 59 | 26 | 488 | .438 | .461 | .383 | 2.3 |
| 21 | Bobby Portis | 20 | CHI | 52 | 25 | 436 | .427 | .443 | .308 | 1.5 |
| 22 | Myles Turner | 19 | IND | 41 | 25 | 619 | .498 | .506 | .214 | 3.1 |
| 23 | Jonathon Simmons | 26 | SAS | 58 | 24 | 331 | .504 | .533 | .383 | 2.0 |
| 24 | Jahlil Okafor | 20 | PHI | 65 | 22 | 928 | .508 | .511 | .167 | 1.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/19/2016.
McConnell earned the No. 2 ranking in assists with 367, only five behind No. 1 Emmanuel Mudiay, and 101 more than No. 3 D’Angelo Russell.
| Totals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Age | Tm | G | GS | MP | AST ▾ |
| 1 | Emmanuel Mudiay | 19 | DEN | 68 | 66 | 2068 | 372 |
| 2 | T.J. McConnell | 23 | PHI | 81 | 17 | 1606 | 367 |
| 3 | D’Angelo Russell | 19 | LAL | 80 | 48 | 2259 | 266 |
| 4 | Devin Booker | 19 | PHO | 76 | 51 | 2108 | 200 |
| 5 | Nikola Jokic | 20 | DEN | 80 | 55 | 1733 | 189 |
| 6 | Marcelo Huertas | 32 | LAL | 53 | 0 | 869 | 182 |
| 7 | Jerian Grant | 23 | NYK | 76 | 6 | 1265 | 177 |
| 8 | Raul Neto | 23 | UTA | 81 | 53 | 1499 | 174 |
| 9 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 20 | MIN | 82 | 82 | 2626 | 161 |
| 10 | Stanley Johnson | 19 | DET | 73 | 6 | 1687 | 118 |
| 11 | Justise Winslow | 19 | MIA | 78 | 8 | 2232 | 117 |
| 12 | Mario Hezonja | 20 | ORL | 79 | 9 | 1413 | 109 |
| 13 | Frank Kaminsky | 22 | CHO | 81 | 3 | 1708 | 98 |
| 14 | Kristaps Porzingis | 20 | NYK | 72 | 72 | 2047 | 93 |
| 15 | Nemanja Bjelica | 27 | MIN | 60 | 0 | 1075 | 83 |
| 16 | Josh Richardson | 22 | MIA | 52 | 2 | 1107 | 73 |
| 17 | Jahlil Okafor | 20 | PHI | 53 | 48 | 1591 | 65 |
| 18 | Trey Lyles | 20 | UTA | 80 | 33 | 1382 | 59 |
| 19 | Jonathon Simmons | 26 | SAS | 55 | 2 | 813 | 58 |
| 20 | Bobby Portis | 20 | CHI | 62 | 4 | 1102 | 52 |
| 21 | Larry Nance Jr. | 23 | LAL | 63 | 22 | 1266 | 44 |
| 22 | Myles Turner | 19 | IND | 60 | 30 | 1367 | 41 |
| 23 | Rashad Vaughn | 19 | MIL | 70 | 6 | 1001 | 39 |
| 24 | Willie Cauley-Stein | 22 | SAC | 66 | 39 | 1412 | 37 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/19/2016.
What makes this feat so impressive is that Mudiay started in 66 games and dished 372 assists playing 2,068 minutes. In contrast, McConnell started in just 17 games and played only 1,606 minutes. The two players recorded almost the same amount of assists, but if you consider their playing minutes, McConnell ends up with the sweeter and more meaningful stat. He was clearly more efficient.
T.J. never shied from competition, taking on LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Dirk Nowitzki and many other of the NBA’s top players. Two of his most memorable steals came at the demise of Bryant and James. T.J. had to pinch himself sometimes, was he actually playing in the NBA guarding these NBA Legends? Kobe explained the interaction between them on the court after T.J. forced a jump ball with the legend. T.J. told Kobe, according to Kobe, “I cannot believe I’m lining up to do a jump ball with you this is crazy!”
More wildcats: T.J. McConnell takes on Kobe Bryant
All first and second team honors were announced recently and T.J. McConnell got two first-team and three second-team votes. Going from undrafted to being acknowledged and leading the league in steals, and being near the top in assists as a rookie ain’t too shabby. With those votes, he actually beat out a few first-round picks (Cameron Payne and Jerian Grant). BEARDOWN T.J.! We are still watching and cheering you on! You proved you belong in the NBA!