Arizona basketball: McConnell, Rondae reunite in Phoenix

And not just because he had landed Thursday at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

It was because the point guard saw former Arizona Wildcats teammate Rondae Hollis-Jefferson getting off another airplane nearby.

“It’s great to have one of your brothers here,” McConnell said, after the two both worked out for the Phoenix Suns on Friday.

Upon arriving, the two went back to their Phoenix hotel and spent the better part of Thursday evening hanging out and sharing stories before their workouts with the Suns on Friday.

They were put in separate waves of Suns prospects on Friday at US Airways Center. But they considered themselves fortunate to be in the same city at the same time, a rare moment of intersecting paths during the oft-grueling predraft process that has all but the highest potential draft picks frantically criss-crossing the country to showcase themselves for teams.

Hollis-Jefferson has been expected to be in this position for years, a high school All-American who left the Cats after two seasons as a projected first-round pick at forward, while McConnell has had to barge his way into the NBA combine and eight team workouts already as a fringe draft prospect.

The ever-humble McConnell noted of Hollis-Jefferson that “obviously, he’s wanted by more teams than me,” and he’s right, of course. McConnell is trying to sell NBA teams on his grit and boatload of intangibles, while Hollis-Jefferson is full of defense, athleticism and personality.

The way Suns GM Ryan McDonough described it, all of those things were fully on display Friday.

Especially after the basketball drills ended.

For the past three years, after the Suns put draft prospects through three-on-three and other drills, they have subjected them to a final test that has as much to do with pure will as athleticism: Players are given 3 minutes to run up and down the court as many times as they can.

“That 3-minute run is no joke,” McConnell said. “I honestly tried to run as fast as I could and the last 10 I just kinda blacked out. I don’t remember any of it.”

McDonough remembered, and he may not forget it anytime soon. He said McConnell actually tied the record for the most one-way, full-court sprints with 28», a mark BYU’s Tyler Haws initially set last week.

“That shows you what kind of condition he came in,” McDonough said.

It was yet another reason McConnell, even though he lacks the proven shooting and prototypical size of an NBA point guard, is continuing to get looks around the league.

“I think T.J. is the kind of guy that teams will want to give opportunities to because he has all the intangibles,” McDonough said. “He has the leadership skills. He’s extremely well-conditioned. His teams won a lot of games, and when you’re doing the background on a guy like that every coach raves about him, how he’s one of the best guys they’ve ever had.

“T.J. helped himself today and I know for him it’s probably grueling at this point in the process, but there’s no question in my mind he’s one of those guys who will continue to do well in these workouts.”

He has to, really. McDonough said McConnell is in that area where he needs to expose himself to as many teams as possible, a potentially exhausting place to be that makes his three-minute drill result that much more impressive.

Each team workout invitation means McConnell hops on a plane, spends the night in a hotel, sometimes dines with team executives and then works out for them before moving on to another city the next day or back to his home base in Phoenix. (He’s also finishing up a final UA course).

McConnell’s workout with the Suns was already his eighth since the mid-may NBA combine, and plenty more are lined up afterward.

“Golden State tomorrow, Portland on the 9th, Chicago on the 10th,” McConnell said, “then Indiana, Brooklyn, Detroit, Los Angeles (Clippers), so I’ve got a lot left. ...”

For Hollis-Jefferson it’s almost as crazy. He said Friday’s workout was his fifth, and that he has plans to try out for 12 to 14 teams all together.

Unlike fellow former UA teammate Stanley Johnson, whose lottery level status means he doesn’t need to work out with teams holding lower picks, Hollis-Jefferson is in that area where he can benefit from showcasing himself to anyone holding one of the first 20 or so draft picks.

“I’ve been to a lot of places,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “When you’re traveling and working out, you kind of lose track. It’s the grind. But you love to do it. You gotta enjoy it. If you say, ‘I’m tired’ or ‘I don’t feel like doing this,’ it’ll hurt you. It won’t instantly happen, but if you keep saying that it will show in your game, ‘Oh, he’s tired.’ So you just try to keep a positive mind-set about it.”

For a guy like Hollis-Jefferson, this is actually the easy part. Fifth team workout or not, he was his usual perked-up self during a brief media interview after his workout Friday morning.

Before a single question could be asked, Hollis-Jefferson introduced himself.

“I’m Rondae,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you all. You don’t have to say your name. So let’s get to it.”

When asked how his workout went, Hollis-Jefferson referred to his sweaty Suns T-shirt as evidence it was hard and physical. When asked if he was excited to be here, Hollis-Jefferson smiled.

“I really am. Oh, not in this (media interview) part. The basketball part.

“I’m just kidding. I love you guys. You guys are good.”

The response was typical of what the Suns may have learned Friday. Like everyone else up and down the Arizona stretch of Interstate 10, they knew all about Hollis-Jefferson’s defensive ability and intensity. But the personality part, well, may be proving something else.

The Suns had a chance to meet with Hollis-Jefferson privately this week, after the former UA forward introduced himself to the NBA media at the combine last month by saying he wouldn’t get out of LeBron James’ way and wanted to dunk on Oklahoma City shot-blocker Serge Ibaka.

“He’s also not afraid to talk,” McDonough said. “He’s one of the more loquacious guys we’ve had in here over the past couple of years.”

At the combine, Hollis-Jefferson compared his work on his shooting to a blossom eventually becoming a “beautiful flower,” but McDonough said he’s not quite there. Hollis-Jefferson’s shooting is the only notable gap in his game, after he made just 20.7 of his three-pointers at UA last season.

“To be able to play a lot of minutes in the NBA today, you need to be able to spot up and make open shots,” McDonough said. “You don’t necessarily need to create the shots — especially if you have unique defensive skills on the other end of the floor like he does — but you need to be able to make open shots.”

McDonough said Hollis-Jefferson’s shot is a little flat at this point but that “he has desire and ability to do it.”

While Hollis-Jefferson said he had something of a “shaky green light” to shoot at UA — in part because of the shooting talent around him — McConnell grew from a reluctant shooter into taking the third-most shots of the Wildcats last season.

McConnell shot 49.8 percent overall and 32.1 percent from three-point range, but he’s aware he has more to prove now.

“I didn’t really have to do that at UA, I was so worried about getting other people the ball,” McConnell said. “I know teams that will go under (screens) and leave me open, so I have to keep people honest and make shots. I’m working hard to do that. “

McConnell will probably need to keep doing it all summer, whether he’s drafted on June 25 or he signs as a free agent and is invited on to somebody’s NBA summer league team.

But no matter what, McConnell has already left an impression on Hollis-Jefferson, no matter where their paths lead next.

“I’m proud of him,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “To play with him for two years has been a blessing.”