Like so much of his career, TJ McConnell took the hard way to get into the Arizona Ring of Honor.
The former UA point guard will get overdue recognition when he’s inducted on Dec. 18 when the Wildcats host Samford at McKale Center. Arizona men’s basketball announced that a ceremony will take place on the court prior to the start of the game.
McConnell, one of the most accomplished players of the Sean Miller era, qualified for the Ring of Honor by accumulating 10+ years in the NBA. The 32-year-old McConnell is in his 10th season in the league, the last six of which have been with the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers are playing the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 19, which is why the ceremony was scheduled for a mid-week nonconference game.
McConnell was a First Team All Pac-12 selection as a senior in 2015 and was Second Team All Pac-12 as a junior. He was also a two-time member of the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. As a senior, he set the program record for assist-to-turnover ratio (3.03) and dished out a conference-best 238 assists, the second-most in a season in Arizona history.
McConnell transferred to Arizona from Duquesne in 2012 and had to redshirt the 2012-13 season.
Over the next two seasons, he guided Arizona to back-to-back Pac-12 regular season championships and a Pac-12 Tournament championship in 2015. Arizona made the Elite Eight both years.
McConnell becomes the 34th men’s basketball player to be inducted into the Arizona Ring of Honor and the third player from the 2013-14 team, joining Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson. Also recently inducted is McConnell’s Pacers teammate, Bennedict Mathurin.
He went undrafted out of college but signed on to the Philadelphia 76ers. McConnell became a fan favorite in four seasons with the ‘Sixers before joining the Pacers.
McConnell is coming off a career-best year in points per game (10.2). He signed a 4-year, $45 million contract extension with the Pacers in August.