He sat in the locker room with teammates, his body ravaged by tumors, his coach asking a question. It was a Friday night in February, senior night for the St. James boys basketball team, and Connor McCullough was not going to miss it. His older brother Clint, a senior, would be honored. And his younger brother Clay would sit next to him on the bench. And at halftime, with St. James trailing University Academy, Mark Huppe approached Connor in the locker room with a question. “What do we need to do here?” Huppe asked. “Coach,” Huppe remembers McCullough saying, “We’re not communicating. We gotta communicate a little bit harder.”The story came flooding back to Huppe on Sunday afternoon, just a day after the St. James community lost one of its most beloved students and prodigious talents. McCullough, a budding basketball star from one of the first families of Kansas City hoops, died on Saturday after a seven-month battle with cancer. He was 17. The news rippled through the area on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, leaving a close-knit school community in shock and an area basketball community in grief. According to Father Scott Wallisch, the chaplain at St. James Academy, McCullough died shortly before 10 on Saturday night. And within a half-hour, dozens of students had gathered at Holy Trinity’s Adoration Chapel to mourn together.Hundreds more, including high school basketball players from throughout the city, offered support on Twitter, rallying around the #TeamConnor hashtag. On Sunday afternoon, several hundred more mourners gathered at St. James for a prayer service and to remember a classmate, teammate and friend. “Connor never wanted it to be about himself,” said Kirk McCullough, Connor’s older brother. “And he was always about having faith.” A handful of students shared stories about a kid who could light up a basketball court, solve problems with his mind and inspire others with his faith. There were tears and laughter — and little prayer sheets decorated with his No. 42 basketball jersey. “(The students) had been praying for Connor’s recovery and praying for a miracle, so this sort of result leaves them with a heavy heart,” Father Wallisch said. “But they have amazing faith.”For Connor, the end came about seven months after doctors first found a tumor in the pineal region of the brain in July. Just days before, friends said, McCullough had been focused on another summer of basketball. He had started at St. James as a freshman, his 6-foot-7 frame leaving a trail of YouTube highlights for college recruiters to pore over. Huppe could hardly wait for the winter to roll around. Clint McCullough, who will play at William Jewell next season, was ready to begin his senior season. And Connor was poised to be one of the most polished sophomores in the city. Schools from all the major conferences had already started calling.It was perfect. Jim and Leslie McCullough had six kids who lived and breathed basketball. And here were two, ready to play together. Then came the diagnosis. “The Lord had other plans for Connor,” Huppe said. Huppe had coached the oldest McCullough son, Kirk, at St. Thomas Aquinas in the late ’90s before he went on to a college career at Air Force and William Jewell. Next came Carolyn, who starred at Aquinas before earning a scholarship to Kansas State. Another son, Keith McCullough, is currently finishing up his career at MidAmerica Nazarene. “It was almost in Connor’s DNA,” Huppe said, “to be a basketball player.”For Huppe, the image is of a 7- or 8-year-old kid, all legs and arms, showing up to basketball camps at St. Thomas Aquinas. “He was always tall and gangly, and in a subtle way, a very quiet player,” Huppe said. Connor’s basketball skills matured while he played on summer teams affiliated with the MoKan organization. Blue Valley Northwest coach Ed Fritz, who coached Connor on those teams, remembers a kid who could be dominant on the court and then quiet and unassuming once he left the gym. Last weekend, Fritz said, he took his son Vince and six other former summer-league teammates to visit Connor in the hospital. BV Northwest sophomore Clayton Custer was there. So was Noah Knight from Olathe South. Then on Wednesday, with Connor in the middle of another round of treatments, he suffered a seizure at home and his health quickly deteriorated. On Sunday, Fritz recalled a story of what might have been Connor’s best game. He was in the eighth grade, and the kids from Kansas City were in Fort Wayne, Ind., playing a team called the Spiece Indy Heat — a group with two players that have already committed to Indiana. And yet, Connor was the best player on the court, finishing with 26 points as his team won the tournament. “Connor was gonna be 6-10 or 6-11 before it was all over,” Fritz said, “And to be able to shoot as well as he did with that height, it was really something to see.” Even back on senior night, Huppe said, the focus was still on basketball — and the future. All year long, Clint had played on as his brother battled in the hospital. But before this game, as Connor sat on the sidelines with Clay, an eighth-grader, Huppe approached with strict orders. “Connor,” Huppe said. “Next year, don’t even think about passing the ball to Clay. Next year, every time you get the ball, I want you to look to score.”Huppe smiled as he finished the sentence. All day long, the stories continued to be told. “In the end,” Kirk said, “what mattered most to us was about what kind of man and spiritual warrior he was.”

KansasCity.com

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St. James basketball player McCullough loses battle with cancer

By RUSTIN DODD

The Kansas City Star

More News

His older brother Clint, a senior, would be honored. And his younger brother Clay would sit next to him on the bench. And at halftime, with St. James trailing University Academy, Mark Huppe approached Connor in the locker room with a question.

“What do we need to do here?” Huppe asked.

“Coach,” Huppe remembers McCullough saying, “We’re not communicating. We gotta communicate a little bit harder.”

The story came flooding back to Huppe on Sunday afternoon, just a day after the St. James community lost one of its most beloved students and prodigious talents.

McCullough, a budding basketball star from one of the first families of Kansas City hoops, died on Saturday after a seven-month battle with cancer. He was 17.

The news rippled through the area on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, leaving a close-knit school community in shock and an area basketball community in grief.

According to Father Scott Wallisch, the chaplain at St. James Academy, McCullough died shortly before 10 on Saturday night. And within a half-hour, dozens of students had gathered at Holy Trinity’s Adoration Chapel to mourn together.

Hundreds more, including high school basketball players from throughout the city, offered support on Twitter, rallying around the #TeamConnor hashtag. On Sunday afternoon, several hundred more mourners gathered at St. James for a prayer service and to remember a classmate, teammate and friend.

“Connor never wanted it to be about himself,” said Kirk McCullough, Connor’s older brother. “And he was always about having faith.”

A handful of students shared stories about a kid who could light up a basketball court, solve problems with his mind and inspire others with his faith. There were tears and laughter — and little prayer sheets decorated with his No. 42 basketball jersey.

“(The students) had been praying for Connor’s recovery and praying for a miracle, so this sort of result leaves them with a heavy heart,” Father Wallisch said. “But they have amazing faith.”

For Connor, the end came about seven months after doctors first found a tumor in the pineal region of the brain in July.

Just days before, friends said, McCullough had been focused on another summer of basketball. He had started at St. James as a freshman, his 6-foot-7 frame leaving a trail of YouTube highlights for college recruiters to pore over.

Huppe could hardly wait for the winter to roll around. Clint McCullough, who will play at William Jewell next season, was ready to begin his senior season. And Connor was poised to be one of the most polished sophomores in the city. Schools from all the major conferences had already started calling.

It was perfect. Jim and Leslie McCullough had six kids who lived and breathed basketball. And here were two, ready to play together. Then came the diagnosis.

“The Lord had other plans for Connor,” Huppe said.

Huppe had coached the oldest McCullough son, Kirk, at St. Thomas Aquinas in the late ’90s before he went on to a college career at Air Force and William Jewell. Next came Carolyn, who starred at Aquinas before earning a scholarship to Kansas State. Another son, Keith McCullough, is currently finishing up his career at MidAmerica Nazarene.

“It was almost in Connor’s DNA,” Huppe said, “to be a basketball player.”

For Huppe, the image is of a 7- or 8-year-old kid, all legs and arms, showing up to basketball camps at St. Thomas Aquinas.

“He was always tall and gangly, and in a subtle way, a very quiet player,” Huppe said.

Connor’s basketball skills matured while he played on summer teams affiliated with the MoKan organization. Blue Valley Northwest coach Ed Fritz, who coached Connor on those teams, remembers a kid who could be dominant on the court and then quiet and unassuming once he left the gym.

Last weekend, Fritz said, he took his son Vince and six other former summer-league teammates to visit Connor in the hospital. BV Northwest sophomore Clayton Custer was there. So was Noah Knight from Olathe South.

Then on Wednesday, with Connor in the middle of another round of treatments, he suffered a seizure at home and his health quickly deteriorated.

On Sunday, Fritz recalled a story of what might have been Connor’s best game. He was in the eighth grade, and the kids from Kansas City were in Fort Wayne, Ind., playing a team called the Spiece Indy Heat — a group with two players that have already committed to Indiana. And yet, Connor was the best player on the court, finishing with 26 points as his team won the tournament.

“Connor was gonna be 6-10 or 6-11 before it was all over,” Fritz said, “And to be able to shoot as well as he did with that height, it was really something to see.”

Even back on senior night, Huppe said, the focus was still on basketball — and the future. All year long, Clint had played on as his brother battled in the hospital. But before this game, as Connor sat on the sidelines with Clay, an eighth-grader, Huppe approached with strict orders.

“Connor,” Huppe said. “Next year, don’t even think about passing the ball to Clay. Next year, every time you get the ball, I want you to look to score.”

Huppe smiled as he finished the sentence. All day long, the stories continued to be told.

“In the end,” Kirk said, “what mattered most to us was about what kind of man and spiritual warrior he was.”