From 2012 to 2015, Sean Miller coached guard T.J. McConnell at the University of Arizona before sending him off to the NBA, where he now plays for the Indiana Pacers.
Fast forward to 2022, a decade after the two first met, and Miller is still on the hunt for talent. Now the head basketball coach at Xavier University, Miller ventured 45 miles north to Centerville High School in Ohio to watch Class of 2024 guard Jonathan Powell.
But while watching Powell, Miller couldn’t help but notice another guard on the floor – Gabe Cupps. Miller approached his father, Brook Cupps, after the game with a comparison. He said Gabe reminded him of McConnell.
“He was like, ‘Oh my gosh, they're exactly the same,’” Brook told the Indiana Daily Student in a phone call. “They match so well, like the things that they do. It's crazy.”
This wasn’t the first time Gabe, now a freshman on Indiana’s men’s basketball team, was told he resembled McConnell. After an AAU game in the summer of 2021, another coach had approached him about his similarity to the NBA player. Brook, Centerville’s head men’s basketball coach, sat down with Gabe and talked about the comparison.
Their conversation centered around what fits Gabe’s skill set and ultimately wound up back at a topic they’d discussed many times: winning.
“Your point guards are measured by whether their team wins or not,” Brook said. “That's how you decide if you've got a great point guard. We reflected on (the comparison), talked about it a little bit, talked about the things that McConnell does and did when he was in Arizona in order to help his team win.”
McConnell led the Wildcats to a 67-9 record in his two years as a starter, providing the university with two of its most successful seasons in program history. Individually, McConnell was twice a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award and earned both All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors.
Winning has long been the priority for the Cupps family, and Gabe and Brook brought it in bunches to Centerville. During Gabe’s final three years, the Elks went 79-8. They made the state tournament for the first time in 2021 – and won the championship. Gabe won Mr. Basketball the next year. A 45-game winning streak accompanied those two accomplishments.
Both guards played for their dad in high school. Brook noted the benefit of this is hearing from a young age all about things coaches like and don’t like.
As a result, winning habits are developed – and it’s evident with both McConnell and Gabe Cupps.
“You can see that in McConnell's game and how he goes about things, you can tell it's really always about the team, which is the same way Gabe was brought up,” Brook said.
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McConnell etched his name high atop Arizona’s history books in several categories, but points scored isn’t one of them.
In his senior year, McConnell vaulted himself to second and third place on the Wildcats’ single-season assists and steals list with 238 and 83, respectively. His 3.03 assist-to-turnover ratio marked the best in program history.
When Indiana head coach Mike Woodson and his staff began recruiting Gabe, they valued similar attributes to what McConnell provided – commitment, dedication and basketball IQ, among others.
Brook described his 6-foot-2, 175-pound son as an acquired taste, pointing out he doesn’t jump off the screen with athleticism but plays hard and works even harder.
During the recruiting process, the Cupps family wanted to find a coach who appreciated the way Gabe carried himself. Woodson checked that box – and continued doing so long after Gabe committed Nov. 2021.
“The stuff that coach Woodson would talk to him about, it was never like, ‘Oh, you've had 25,’ it was all the little things that he did to connect his teammates and make them better, along with himself playing well,” Brook said.
Woodson and staff have been who Gabe thought they were when he chose the Hoosiers. Equally as important is that Gabe has been who Woodson thought he was, too.
“He's been one of the bright spots,” Woodson said. “He seems to do everything that we've asked him to do. He's done a lot of good things on the floor for us in terms of winning, winning basketball plays.”
When speaking at Indiana’s basketball media day Sept. 20, Gabe stressed he wants to play in the NBA. He and Brook have watched extensive film on NBA Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash’s playstyle, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic’s skills coming off ball screens, and, of course, McConnell.
Among those three, McConnell carries the least amount of fanfare. He’s a rotational player and has averaged only 7.1 points and five assists per game across eight professional seasons.
But when the Pacers kicked off their season Oct. 25, McConnell was on the court, tipping off season No. 9. Cupps wants nothing more than to fulfill his dream and follow a similar path, emerging as a long-tenured player at the sport’s highest level.
“McConnell's still in the NBA, and that's been my dream,” Gabe said. “I'm trying to find the best role that would fit my play style and would also help NBA teams out to where they can see taking me as a benefit for them. So, I think he brings a lot to an NBA team, and I think I can do that too.”
Gabe was thrown into the spotlight early, going viral as a 14-year-old for a three-point shooting contest against NBA icon LeBron James. Gabe played with James’ son, Bronny, and saw his own brand skyrocket.
Today, Cupps has 348,000 Instagram followers. The rest of the players on Indiana’s team have 221,000 – combined. McConnell carries 121,000.
While his popularity has skyrocketed, Cupps has remained grounded. Brook described his son as old school, especially in his fashion choices.
“He’s just a little unique, like he doesn't mind being different,” Brook said. “Fitting in is not something that he strives to do. He’s just doing his thing the way he thinks he should do it and staying true to that.”
Cupps’ biggest thing is winning. The next is carving a path to the NBA, with McConnell providing the blueprint for how to not only make it, but stay there.
But even if Cupps’ professional ambitions fall short, Brook knows his son has adapted traits that will make him a winner off the court regardless of what the next four years may hold.
“If he gets an opportunity to do the things TJ McConnell has done, that's incredible,” Brook said. “If he doesn't, I feel like it's going to put him in a situation where he's going to be a better version of himself when he's done.”
Follow reporters Will Foley (@foles24) and Matt Press (@MattPress23) and columnist Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
