The Pac-12 season hadn’t started yet, but practice at the University of Arizona had already become routine. At least with certain exercises. These are the moments when good teams become great. The Wildcats were ranked No. 3 in the country and were hoping to win a national championship. They had to grind. On that day in the winter of 2014, Stanley Johnson had none of it.

Johnson was a celebrated freshman. A five-star recruit with NBA aspirations. At Mater Dei High in Southern California, he had won four state championships. When he arrived in Tucson, he looked like a future pro, a chiseled 6-foot-7-inch and 245 pounds. He had started his first game with the Wildcats. In the Maui Invitational championship contest, he had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals in a win over No. 15 San Diego State.

But Johnson still had a lot to learn, especially when it came to his practice habits. Coach Sean Miller came to Johnson that day and tried to increase the freshman’s intensity. Arizona’s senior point guard took it from there.

TJ McConnell was in his third year with the Wildcats. After starting his career at Duquesne, he transferred to Arizona in 2012 and became the team’s strongest voice. About a decade later, as McConnell is inducted into the program’s Ring of Honor on Wednesday night, those in attendance at that 2014 training remember McConnell’s actions differently, but not the impact they had.

In a telephone conversation from Ohio, where he coaches the Xavier Musketeers, Miller said McConnell approached Johnson. “You’re not the only one here to accomplish things. You’re not the only one who cares about what you do.I will do that. It’s important to all of us. And you’re basically getting in the way of us achieving the things we all want to achieve. You are not the solution. You’re actually part of the problem, and frankly, I’m sick of it.”

In a telephone conversation from California, where he coaches UC Santa Barbara, former assistant coach Joe Pasternack said McConnell hurled a basketball at Johnson. “You won’t ruin my senior year!”

In a telephone conversation from Istanbul, where he plays professionally, Johnson laughed. No, it didn’t get physical. He and McConnell were close. Roommates on road trips through Arizona. It wasn’t as if he was slacking off that day, but Johnson admits he was casual. He was too young to realize that the strong habits a team develops in December pay off in February and March. So there was McConnell, fed up and raring to go, a confrontation that Johnson summed up in four words:

“SHUT THE F-IN!”

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Among Arizona’s 34 Ring of Honor members, McConnell stands out. First, he is one of only two players who did not start his career in Tucson. (Forward Chris Mills, who transferred from Kentucky, is the other.) Second, he achieved Ring status in a way few expected. Arizona players can qualify in a variety of ways: earning first-team All-America honors, becoming national or conference player of the year and winning an Olympic medal.

McConnell qualified by reaching his 10th NBA season. He went undrafted in 2015 and played four seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers before spending the last six seasons with the Indiana Pacers. Heading into Thursday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, the 32-year-old McConnell is averaging 11.3 points and shooting a career-best 57.8 percent from the field.

This is an extraordinary leap considering assistant coaches had doubts when he first moved to Arizona. Pasternack said that during McConnell’s official visit, the point guard asked him, “Am I really good enough to come here and play?” His colleague James Whitford said he believed that was McConnell’s motivation.

Due to NCAA rules, the point guard had to sit out his first season. He trained like everyone else, but also worked with Whitford. Arizona’s staff knew McConnell could pass and defend at 6-1. They had to make sure he could score.

“He had never really played against the size he was up against, coming from Duquesne, where one in four teams will now have an NBA frontcourt player,” Whitford said. “He had to start getting to grips with the actual size at the rim. If you’re not a goal threat, you’re not a pass threat.”

On December 18th the legend, @tjmcconnellwill be included in the 𝙍𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧 🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/WLKC9i1ztF

– Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) December 5, 2024

McConnell led the scout team along with junior college big man Matt Korcheck and walk-ons Max Wiepking, Quinton Crawford and Jacob Hazzard. They went up against an Arizona lineup that included Solomon Hill, Nick Johnson and Mark Lyons. It didn’t take long for McConnell to find his place. Miller said he was like a racquetball player playing basketball, a bundle of energy.

“A few weeks ago, TJ actually won the gold jersey, which is almost impossible on the scout team because you don’t get nearly as many reps as the other guys,” Wiepking said, referring to the jersey Miller awarded the players who worked the hardest. “But there would just be days where he would score at will. He picked us as wide-open jumpers. He completely took over training as point guard for the scout team.”

Once McConnell was admitted, he flourished. His competitiveness energized Arizona. The Wildcats posted a 67-9 record over the next two seasons. They won the Pac-12 regular season title twice and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament each time. They never lost a home game. And at every step, McConnell never stopped testing himself or others on and off the court.

“You can’t measure the competitive spirit,” said Parker Jackson-Cartwright, a freshman guard during McConnell’s senior season. “Exactly what he does in the NBA, he did at the college level. It simply translates. I thought he was so good. I mean, I had to play against him every day.”

In December 2014, Arizona played an away game at UTEP. Throughout the contest, a man sitting behind the Wildcats’ bench harassed Miller and the Arizona players. The man was smart. He had done his research.

During a 30-second timeout in the first half, Miller stood on the field with his back to the fans and addressed his players. He could tell McConnell was distracted. The point guard listened, but his eyes wandered. As he explained in an October podcast with McConnell, Miller later found out why.

McConnell drank orange Gatorade during the timeout. The fan started screaming.

“What’s the flavor of Gatorade, McConnell? How’s the Gatorade?”

“Tell me,” McConnell said.

And he injected the guy in the chest.

“It was almost like a super soaker, like a water gun,” Stanley Johnson said.

Miller called it an “epic moment.” When asked what was said about McConnell, the former Arizona coach said it was just another (perhaps extreme) example of the point guard’s competitiveness.

“He has a way of just challenging himself within a game,” Miller said. “Sometimes in basketball you can get distracted in a negative way if you feel insulted. Your opponent, you get into a 1-on-1 fight that may affect the team-oriented attitude. TJ has always had a way of being incredibly competitive and using those little things in the context of a game to perhaps create even more competitiveness. Nothing less. The challenge within the challenge.”

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A few hours after Tuesday’s practice in Indianapolis, McConnell reflected on Wednesday’s Ring of Honor induction, which will take place before Arizona’s game against Samford. He thought about the people who helped make it possible. Miller, who pushed him. The trainers and support staff who worked with him. His teammates. The fans.

“I certainly wouldn’t be where I am without the University of Arizona,” McConnell said by phone. “I can’t express how much this means to me.”

Yes, he admitted there were some concerns when he joined the Wildcats. A voice in the back of his mind asked a familiar question: Are you good enough? McConnell took care of it, as always. By building self-confidence through work. He did the same thing in the NBA.

“There wasn’t a single moment,” McConnell said when asked when he first realized he could play in the league. “It was just one of those things where I did everything I could and worked my butt off. And tries to do things to get noticed. That was really my attitude, and it remains my attitude to this day.”

In 2020, when sports were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McConnell jumped on Zoom with the Ball State men’s basketball team. Whitford, the former Arizona assistant, was then in his seventh season as head coach of the Cardinals. McConnell was in his fifth NBA season, his first with the Indiana Pacers.

With limited access to the facilities, McConnell explained to the Cardinals what he was doing to stay current. He ran up the ramps outside Indiana’s practice facility, stopping every rep. He worked out in a makeshift weight room that Indiana’s conditioning team set up in a parking garage. Freshman Luke Bumbalough asked McConnell how a guard with limited athletic ability could excel. McConnell told him not to let anyone overwhelm him, whether it was diving for a loose ball or communicating with teammates.

“We went through a lot of different things (during the call),” Whitford said, “but he said, ‘You know, you make yourself who you want to be in this game. I am living proof of that.’ And that resonated with me because that’s the TJ I know. He’s like everyone else I’ve ever coached, a self-made player.”

Johnson never doubted.

“I don’t think anyone associated with TJ would say they’re surprised by his successes,” Johnson said. “What he brings to a locker room, what he brings to your team, aside from his talent – which he also has – is incredible. “I’m always rooting for him.”

(Top photo of TJ McConnell celebrating during Arizona’s 2014 Elite Eight game against Wisconsin: Jeff Gross / Getty Images)