Former Lawrence North Teammates CJ Gunn, Tony Perkins Meet Again in Big Ten Clash
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Lawrence North basketball team eyed another state title.
They'd been there before, winning four Indiana state championships under Hall of Fame coach Jack Keefer. And during the 2019-20 season, the Wildcats could taste a fifth ring.
Lawrence North defeated Warren Central 61-59 in the sectional championship on March 7, 2020 to advance to the Class 4A regional semifinals against New Palestine. Senior guard Tony Perkins, a three-time captain and 2020 Indiana All-Star, led the Wildcats to a 25-2 record with 18.6 points with 5.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
Also on the 2019-2020 Lawrence North squad was current Indiana freshman guard CJ Gunn, who was a sophomore during Perkins' senior year. Gunn transferred from Hamilton Southeastern to Lawrence North after his freshman year, and Perkins immediately noticed Gunn's confidence, shooting ability and athleticism. Gunn missed part of his sophomore season due to injury, but Perkins could sense his potential.
"I always knew [Gunn] was going to be good," Perkins said in a phone interview with HoosiersNow.com on Tuesday. "When he came in, he had outstanding confidence. He could shoot the ball pretty well, he's athletic, of course. So he could do everything that he needed to do to be a high-major D-I basketball player."
Perkins was an all-state honorable mention as a junior, but his coach demanded more before his final season of high school.
"My senior year Keefer put it into my head that I needed to be more of a leader if I wanted this team to be good and be a state running team," Perkins said. "Mainly because I don't like losing, and he doesn't like losing."
Lawrence North was just four wins away from reaching their ultimate goal, but the 2020 IHSAA boys' basketball tournament was cancelled on March 19 due to COVID-19.
"We weren't able to get what we deserved for the season that we had and the work that we put in to become the best team in Indiana," Perkins said. "And with that, I wasn't able to get what I should have won, Mr. Basketball, but it is what it is. On top of that, it hurt all the players because we played and practiced and put in so much work to get a ring and go to state."
Perkins ultimately fell short of the coveted title of Indiana Mr. Basketball, finishing second to Anthony Leal, who had similar state title aspirations with a 26-0 Bloomington South team. Following impressive high school careers, both players were off to the Big Ten, with Perkins heading to Iowa and Leal staying home at Indiana.
Fast forward three years, and former Lawrence North teammates, Perkins and Gunn, along with Leal, will take the court in a crucial Big Ten matchup. On Thursday at 9 p.m ET, the No. 15 Indiana Hoosiers travel to Iowa, who's looking to bounce back from three consecutive losses to Eastern Illinois, Nebraska and Penn State.
Now a junior, Perkins has started 13 games for Iowa this season, averaging 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Gunn has appeared in 11 games for the Hoosiers during the 2022-23 season.
Following in Perkins' footsteps at Lawrence North, Gunn helped the Wildcats reach the state title game in 2021, and he was named a 2022 Indiana All-Star as a senior averaging 23.5 points per game. Gunn exudes confidence on the court even as a freshman at Indiana, something Perkins has noticed for years.
"He had confidence when he played with me," Perkins said. "And I helped him and built that mindset for him just to be confident regardless. You might miss shots but always be confident because you never know, that could take you a long way."
CJ Gunn (left), DJ Hughes (middle) and Tony Perkins (left) talk on the bench during their time on the EG10 AAU team. After being teammates at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Ind., Gunn now plays for Indiana, Hughes plays for Butler and Perkins plays for Iowa.
photo via Christopher Gunn (@Phenom307) on Twitter
Since their days as teammates, Perkins thinks Gunn has improved his game in all areas as a "3-and-D" type of player. Gunn has had to work his way into the rotation behind Indiana's veteran guards, but a recent foot injury to Xavier Johnson could lead to more playing time. On Dec. 20 against Elon, with Johnson out, Gunn scored a career-high 11-points and landed on Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays with a high-flying put-back dunk just before halftime.
"When he had the put-back dunk I kind of already knew it was coming when the shot went up because I was watching the game and saw him creeping and I already knew he was going to dunk it," Perkins said. "So I was like, 'Well, that's the CJ that I know.'"
Although they're competing on opposing teams in the same conference now, Perkins said the two keep in touch. He talked with Gunn over the summer about what to expect in college and offered advice on how to persevere through difficult times.
"It's still a support system even though we're going against each other," Perkins said. "We still got that little edge like, 'I want to beat you, I want to go against you, I want to play against you,' but other than that we still support each other."
Iowa's Tony Perkins (left) and Indiana's CJ Gunn (right), high school teammates at Lawrence North, meet up after Thursday night's game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa defeated Indiana 91-89.
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