The Indiana Pacers are on a playoff underdog run for the books.
One year after making the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals as a No. 6 seed, the Pacers are in the NBA Finals as a No. 4 seed, and went up 1-0 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night in another instant classic despite entering the series as a +700 underdog.
To get here, the Pacers held off Giannis Antetokounmpo and the 2021 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in five games, took down the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in just five games, and kept it rolling by defeating the No. 3 New York Knicks in seven games.
And they've been doubted every step of the way.
Fresh off their fourth 15-point comeback of the postseason, the Pacers have proven undeterred by their underdog status and the lack of belief NBA analysts or casual fans have placed in them before each series. Unsurprisingly, the Pacers are mostly comprised of players who have been underdogs their whole lives in regard to reaching the NBA.
Here's a quick look at where all 18 members of the Indiana Pacers played their high school ball and how they were ranked at the end of their senior seasons.
(Recruiting rankings and offer sheets per 247Sports.com)
James Johnson, PF – Cheyenne East (Cheyenne, WY) – No. 91 in Class of 2007
Even in the nation's least populated state, NBA talent can get noticed. Johnson averaged 28 points and nine rebounds as a senior at Cheyenne East and broke through with a top-100 ranking in his class and a ticket to Wake Forest. He was an instant impact player there, earning All-ACC honors as a freshman one year before going 16th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. Currently the ninth-oldest player on an NBA roster at 38 years old, Johnson has a chance to win his first ring with the Pacers in the "elder statesmen of the locker room" role.
T.J. McConnell, PG – Chartiers Valley High School (Bridgeville, PA) – No. 349 in Class of 2010
There might not be a bigger inherent underdog among NBA starters or standout reserves than McConnell. Are there any other players in that category who stand just 6-0.5 with a 6-2 wingspan who entered the NBA as a legitimate non-factor from three-point land? Of course not. McConnell was unranked in 247Sports' own rankings and No. 349 (a fairly low 3-star) in 247Sports' composite rankings, and made the most of his lone D-1 offer – Duquesne – before transferring to Arizona following two standout seasons. McConnell went undrafted as expected in 2015 despite earning 1st Team All-PAC 12 honors, but he ended up in perhaps the perfect situation for an anomalous point guard to make an NBA career – a steadying, likable force when one was badly needed for "The Process" 76ers.
Pascal Siakam, PF – God's Academy (Lewisville, TX) – Unranked in Class of 2013
Siakam was a relative unknown coming out of Cameroon, where he was discovered and mentored in large part by former Cameroonian NBA forward Luc Mbah a Moute. After attending a series of camps in Africa, Siakam caught the attention of the international scouting community at Basketball Without Borders at 16 years old. An unranked prospect, he played briefly at God's Academy in Texas as a senior before attending the only D-1 to offer him – New Mexico State, where he eventually became the WAC Player of the Year.
Myles Turner, C – Euless Trinity (Euless, TX) – No. 7 in Class of 2014
Indiana's longest-tenured player was also the biggest star in high school of any Pacer. Turner was on pro scouting radars from early in his high school career, if not middle school, and was a 5-star recruit ranked seventh in the vaunted Class of 2014 by 247Sports with a 100 overall rating. All six players ranked above him were also acclaimed as potentially generational prospects, and of Emmanuel Mudiay (Prime Prep), Karl Anthony-Towns (St. Joseph-Piscataway), Stanley Johnson (Mater Dei), Cliff Alexander (Curie), and Kelly Oubre (Findlay Prep), and Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young), Turner has had the second-most productive NBA career. Before he was a one-and-done at Texas, Turner played in the 2014 McDonald's All-American Game, Jordan Brand Classic, and Nike Hoop Summit.
Thomas Bryant, C – Huntington Prep (Huntington, WV) – No. 20 in Class of 2015
Despite his size and raw potential, Bryant didn't set the world on fire to start his high school career, but he gradually developed into a 5-star recruit. He played the first half at Bishop Kearney in his home state of New York before heading to Huntington Prep, which was only a couple years after Andrew Wiggins cemented his status as the top prospect in the Class of 2023 there. Bryant reportedly was set to commit to Syracuse before it got in trouble with the NCAA for, among other things, extra benefits, academic misconduct, impermissible booster activity and failure to follow its drug testing policy. The Orange's loss was the Hoosiers' gain, as Bryant put in two solid seasons for Indiana playing alongside OG Anunoby before getting drafted in 2017.
Tony Bradley, C – Bartow (Bartow, FL) – No. 33 in Class of 2016
After Turner, Bradley was the biggest former high school star (including in a literal sense) with 22.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks a game as a senior at Bartow. He was a high 4-star recruit and played in both the McDonald's All-American Games and the Jordan Brand Classic before signing with North Carolina over at least 22 other D-I schools. Bradley was a productive interior force in 15 MPG off the bench in his only year of college to help UNC win a national championship. Before growing to 6-10 or 6-11 not long before finishing his high school basketball days, Bradley was a 6-6 combo forward who projected as a solid low-major and mid-major recruit.
Quenton Jackson, SG – Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, CA) – Unranked in Class of 2017
Gotta have at least one JUCO product. Jackson spent two years at College of Central Florida after missing more than six weeks of his senior year of high school with a wrist injury, and it resulted in offers from some of the nation's stronger college programs. Jackson picked Texas A&M and never stopped grinding, eventually scoring 14.8 PPG as a fifth-year senior to close a solid three-year tenure as an Aggie before going to the NBA G-League and eventually the Association. Jackson was still early in his development at Mira Costa, where he averaged just above 13 PPG as both a junior and senior, but he didn't let that stop him from fulfilling his dream.
Obi Toppin, PF – Ossining (Ossining, NY) – Unranked in Class of 2017
Toppin took a high school basketball path with two components that have become much more common since he did it roughly 10 years ago – playing for three or four different programs, and taking a postgraduate year. Believe it or not, he was an unranked recruit exiting Ossining, which is nearly impossible to fathom considering his solid 6-9 frame, multi-level scoring ability, and outstanding athleticism. Here's the catch – the future NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion stood 6-foot-5 upon graduation, but he grew four inches during his postgraduate campaign at Mt. Zion Prep Academy. Toppin then attended Dayton (over Georgia, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Georgetown, Rhode Island, and Minnesota) and became the consensus National Player of the Year and a lottery pick. Before spending his junior and senior years of high school at Ossining, Toppin was a freshman at Heritage (Palm Bay, FL) and a sophomore at Melbourne Central Catholic.
Andrew Nembhard, PG/SG/SF – Montverde Academy (Montverde, FL) – No. 20 in Class of 2018
Originally one of Canada's premier youth hoopers, Nembhard joined legendary Montverde Academy in 2016 after playing his freshman and sophomore years at Vaughn Secondary in Ontario. Among his top teammates at MVA were R.J. Barrett, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Filip Petrusev. Nembhard was listed at 6-3, 160 entering his senior year at Montverde and was already a projected NBA prospect before topping out at 6-4, 191 and proving capable of spending time on the wing as well. He spent the majority of his high school days also a member of Team Canada at the U16, U17, and U18 levels, and was named to the senior team a year after leaving the prep ranks.
Tyrese Haliburton, PG/SG – Oshkosh North (Oshkosh, WI) – No. 177 in Class of 2018
Haliburton makes leading the NBA playoffs in both assists and game-winning shots look so easy. With an amazing skill set, good size and athleticism for an NBA lead guard at 6-5, 185, and success since his first days on an NBA court, Haliburton screams 5-star (or at least 4-star) recruit. But he was "only" a high 3-star guy coming out of Oshkosh North, where he was ranked 177th in the Class of 2018. Just a year later after a strong freshman campaign at Iowa State, Haliburton made Team USA's gold medal-winning U19 team, and a year after that, he was the 12th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Haliburton was in play as high as No. 2, but he fell to Sacramento at No. 12, as both draft bloggers and fans of teams in the 2020 lottery all seemed to be ahead of NBA general managers on his potential. To boot, Sacramento traded him midseason to Indiana for Domantas Sabonis in what was long considered a rare win-win trade until Haliburton's recent heroics.
Aaron Nesmith, SF/SG – Porter-Gaud (Charleston, SC) – No. 46 in Class of 2018
As one might expect with his physical tools and three-point stroke, Nesmith was a can't-miss prospect from somewhat early on. He didn't fully blossom into the image of a future pro until his senior year of high school, but by the end of it he was a high 4-star recruit with a whopping 34 Division I offers. Nesmith won three straight 3A state titles at Porter-Gaud and earned Gatorade South Carolina Player of the Year honors as a senior.
Ben Sheppard, SG – Greater Atlanta Christian (Norcross, GA) – Unranked in Class of 2019
From the same school as another versatile two-way guard who played for the Pacers not long ago, Malcolm Brogdon. But unlike Brogdon, a 4-star recruit who picked Virginia out of many Power-5 offers, Sheppard was an unranked prospect who made the most of his lone Division I offer – Belmont. Once at Belmont, Sheppard took a significant leap every season, going from 2.9 PPG as a freshman to 18.8 PPG as a senior, working his way into not only NBA Draft contention but even the first round (2023).
Enrique Freeman, PF/SF – St. Martin de Porres (Cleveland, OH) – Unranked in Class of 2019
It really does happen – a future NBA player walking on to start college because not one Division I program offered him. Thus is the case for Freeman, who averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game as a senior at St. Martin de Porres before spending five years at Akron, where he eventually developed into the MAC Player of the Year.
RayJ Dennis, PG – Oswego East (Oswego, IL) – No. 467 in Class of 2019
It's not particularly uncommon that scouting services miss badly on a player but college coaches don't. Such is the case for Dennis, who was unranked by 247Sports itself and hardly made 247Sports' Composite Rankings. After he averaged 23.2 points, 5.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.5 as a senior at Oswego East, a whopping 26 D-1s offered Dennis. And after four successful seasons at Boise State, Dennis played his way onto NBA radars as a fifth-year senior at Baylor. Dennis spent his first two years of high school at another Illinois program, Montini Catholic.
Bennedict Mathurin, SF/SG – NBA Academy Latin America (Mexico City, Mexico) – No. 53 in Class of 2020
When he had two years left in his prep career, Mathurin headed to Mexico City to become NBA Academy Latin America's first Canadian-born player. Not sure if that counts as playing high school basketball exactly, but the highflying wing earned offers to Arizona, Baylor, and Washington State, and made himself the PAC-12 Player of the Year and a lottery pick as a Wildcat.
Isaiah Jackson, PF/C – Waterford Mott (Waterford, MI) – No. 34 in Class of 2020
The big men rarely get overlooked coming out of high school these days, and Jackson is no exception despite playing for four high schools in four years. A solid athlete at 6-9 with a penchant for physicality and toughness, Jackson understandably stood out from early on as a high 4-star recruit per most scouting services and a 5-star recruit per Rivals. The Michigan native started out at Lutheran Northwest, played his sophomore year at Old Redford, went with highly-touted Old Redford teammate Rocket Watts to SPIRE Academy and played with LaMelo Ball, and finished up at Waterford Mott, where he averaged 19.1 points, 13 rebounds, and 7.7 blocks per game and earned an invitation to the Jordan Brand Classic.
Jarace Walker, PF/SF – IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) – No. 12 in Class of 2022
Walker was a 5-star recruit coming out of one of the top national contenders and talent factories in high school sports – IMG Academy. At 6-8, 220, with exceptional athleticism and a strong prognosis of refining his ball skills (which he did at Houston), it's easy to see why. Before he was an Ascender, Walker played his freshman year of high school at Susquehannock High School (Glen Rock, PA).
Johnny Furphy, SF/SG – Maribyrnong College (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) – No. 35 in Class of 2023
Although it has "College" in its name, Maribyrnong College is where the Australian national played his equivalent of high school hoops. Furphy graduated in 2022 at 17 years old and was listed in the Class of 2023 when he was 18 following what might be described as a postgrad year, one season at Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence in Canberra. 247Sports was apparently onto something ranking him 35th in his class, as a year later, Furphy went 35th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft following a promising season at Kansas.
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