Arizona guard McConnell passes on legacy
For T.J. McConnell, it’s never been about T.J. McConnell.
He’s always deferred, deflected, assisted, passed to his teammates, to his coach.
Everyone and their mother will rave about McConnell, his leadership, his point guard skills, his personality, his enthusiasm.
But even as his career had just ended, he couldn’t help but take blame. He always has.
On March 28, as the Wildcats were eliminated in Los Angeles by Wisconsin in the Elite Eight, again, McConnell checked out of the game at Staples Center for the last time, and shared a long hug with his coach Sean Miller, tears streaming down his face.
“It was emotional,” McConnell said in the locker room after. “He’s like my dad and I’m going to miss playing for him. It sucked, I just wanted to be able to get him and this team to a Final Four.”
Not for himself, but for his team, for his coach.
The Wildcats never made it that far, but it was by no fault of McConnell, pride of Pittsburgh.
In two years as Arizona’s starting point guard, the Wildcats went 67-9. No Wildcat in the Lute Olson era ever won that many games in a two-year stretch.
In November 2011, McConnell came to McKale Center as a member of the Duquesne Dukes. Five months later, he committed to transfer to the Wildcats. The hope being that he could be the pass-first point guard that Miller yearned for, and a team leader.
Boy, did he live up to that hype.
We decided to take a look back at the development of McConnell’s Arizona career, starting with that Dukes-Wildcats game, through the eyes of his coach, teammates, opponents and the man himself.
