By Pat Farabaugh

For the Mirror

The NBA announced the finalists for the 2023-24 Twyman-Stokes Teammate-of-the-Year Award on April 2 and one name on the list is synonymous with basketball in Western Pennsylvania.

And at Saint Francis.

Indiana Pacers’ guard T.J. McConnell was named to the list last Tuesday.

McConnell is currently in his fifth season with the Pacers and ninth year in the NBA. He has emerged as one of the top sixth men in the league while backing up all-star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.

The Twyman-Stokes Award is presented annually to the player who best exemplifies selflessness, leadership, commitment and dedication, both on and off the court.

The award is named in honor of Jack Twyman and 1955 Saint Francis graduate Maurice Stokes.

Stokes carried Saint Francis to unprecedented basketball success from 1951-55 and earned the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award with the Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) in 1956.

He played three standout seasons in the league before becoming paralyzed from the neck down following an in-game fall in 1958.

Twyman, a teammate of Stokes with the Royals, stepped up for his friend in a big way following the accident, assisting Stokes with his finances and working tirelessly to raise money for his medical expenses.

Stokes died in 1970, and the NBA introduced the Twyman-Stokes Award following Twyman’s death in 2012.

“It’s just an amazing story of compassion, empathy and dignity,” McConnell said. “It’s often said that this game teaches you lessons beyond the court and that your teammates become family.

“I can’t think of a story that better reflects this.”

NBA officials select six finalists from each conference for the award and players then vote for one of the 12. The winner will be announced in May.

“There are some incredible people around the league who have also been nominated — many of whom I know well,” McConnell said. “I’m proud and thankful to be associated with that group.”

T.J. is a member of a long line of McConnells who have made their mark within the sport. The most famous member of the family — T.J.’s aunt, Suzie McConnell-Serio — is a two-time Olympic medalist and a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

The list goes on and on. Suzie’s parents, Sue and Tom McConnell, raised eight children in Pittsburgh.

Six of their children played collegiate or professional basketball, several of them coached at the high school, college and pro levels, and one (Mike) became a highly respected referee in the college game.

T.J.’s uncle, Tom Jr., served as the head men’s basketball coach at Saint Francis from 1992-99. He coached current Red Flash head coach Rob Krimmel for three seasons.

“I wouldn’t be at Saint Francis without Tom McConnell,” said Krimmel, whose youngest son, Tommy, is named after his former coach as well as his SFU teammate, Tom Fox.

“The name ‘McConnell’ and the word ‘basketball’ are forever linked,” Krimmel said. “In this area, there is not another family who has impacted the game as much as they have.”

Tom’s son (and T.J’s cousin), Luke McConnell, is currently an assistant coach on Krimmel’s Saint Francis staff. Luke played football at SFU from 2008-11, before pivoting into basketball as a career path.

He served as Saint Francis’ director of basketball operations for eight years and has been an assistant under Krimmel for the last three seasons.

Luke grew up around the Red Flash program, attending camps and practices in Loretto with his dad throughout the 1990s.

From 2015-19, Luke was joined by his cousin, Matty, in the Northeast Conference. Matty, who is T.J.’s younger brother, was a 1,000-point scorer at Robert Morris.

Matty and T.J. both played for their father, Tim, at Chartiers Valley High School.

If T.J. McConnell wins the Twyman-Stokes Teammate-of-the-Year Award next month, it will be another honor in a long list of accolades for the First Family of Basketball in Western Pennsylvania.

And another Saint Francis connection to the legendary family.

“It is important for us to continue to share the story of Stokes and Twyman,” said Krimmel. “It would be really special to connect their story to the McConnell family if T.J. wins the award.”

Pat Farabaugh is a professor of communications at Saint Francis and the Red Flash men’s basketball team’s play-by-play announcer. He served as sports information director at the school from 1999-2005 and is the author of “An Unbreakable Bond: The Brotherhood of Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman.”