Class of 2023 IU basketball verbal commit Gabe Cupps was named Ohio Mr. Basketball in separate votes by both the state’s coaches and media over the last week.
“I think it’s really cool that people recognize that I try to do things the right way,” Cupps told Matt Denison on the Hoosier Report on Thursday. “I think a lot of it was just how well our team played these last two years.”
Cupps helped lead his father’s Centerville H.S. team to 45 consecutive wins, which included a state championship in 2021 and a state runner-up finish two weeks ago.
This season the 6-foot-2 point guard averaged 14.3 points per game, 6.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2 steals.
Cupps committed to Mike Woodson and Indiana in November, and his future coaches and teammates paid him an unexpected visit when they played in his hometown area of Dayton a couple weeks ago.
He didn’t hesitate to join the large contingent of IU fans who swarmed the University of Dayton Arena.
“I thought they were going to get seeded a little bit higher in the Tournament, but when it came down to it and they were in the First Four, I got super excited and had my sister buy tickets right away,” Cupps told Denison.
Cupps said he tried to imagine himself on the floor playing with IU when the Hoosiers faced Wyoming.
In just over a year he will in fact be preparing to leave home and head to Bloomington to join the IU program.
Known as a tireless worker with an intense competitive spirit, Cupps has areas of his game he wants to improve before that day comes.
“I’ve been working a lot on finishes around the rim and getting my threes off and getting a little bit more arc on them,
Cupps said. “That and getting stronger. I think I need to put on some weight at the Big Ten level.”
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