T.J. McConnell shines as an NBA Rookie

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!

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