Long before OG Anunoby was rescuing the Knicks in the NBA Finals, he was the quiet kid wandering the halls of Indiana University and showing up at frat parties in Bloomington, Ind.
Now, as the 27-year-old forward powers New York’s championship chase, Hoosier alumni say they’re watching one of their own become a Knicks legend.
To Indiana University grads living in the city, he’s still the soft-spoken but hilarious, Young Thug-loving student who hung out at tailgates long before he became one of the NBA’s premier two-way players.
Anunoby, who starred under then-coach Tom Crean at Indiana from 2015-17 before launching an NBA career, has become an unlikely crossover hero for New Yorkers with Hoosier roots. For alumni who also happen to be lifelong Knicks fans, watching a Bloomington favorite thrive at Madison Square Garden feels almost too perfect.
“OG was one of the first people I ever met on the Bloomington campus in 2015,” said Jason Morrin, a 28-year-old former student who recalls meeting the basketball star during orientation, saying he was extremely friendly.
Morrin told The Post that at the time, Anunoby was close with current Cavaliers center Thomas Bryant.
“The two of them together made for quite the party. TB really brought OG out of his shell,” Morrin said.
Even as a freshman playing in Assembly Hall, his potential was evident to students who regarded him as one of the most athletically gifted players on the hardwood.
“It is surreal to watch him put everything together now for my beloved Knicks,” the New Yorker said. “He is forever a New York and Bloomington legend.”
OG Anunoby starred under then-coach Tom Crean at Indiana from 2015-17 before launching an NBA career. Getty ImagesJosh Lomita remembers Anunoby from the freshman dorms and says he was always a fan favorite.
The 29-year-old New Yorker, who got to watch him play for a year in Bloomington, said his trade to the Knicks was “the best reunion.”
“It’s a full-circle storybook moment,” Lomita told The Post. “We are Knicks season ticket holders for 14 years, but lifelong fans. We lived through the darkest days of sports fandom.
“To have a player as special on both sides of the floor as OG is indescribable. Watching his tip shot fall produced an out-of-body experience. Whatever he wants in this city is his for life. Quite frankly, we should give him the key to the city and make him mayor.”
Off the court, Anunoby had a reputation for being just as approachable as he was talented, especially when he showed up at Zeta Beta Tau fraternity parties — and never turned down a photo with anyone who asked.
“Watching him party at the frat and seeing the other side of him was amazing,” said Dylan Leist. “He used to put girls on his shoulders in the middle of the mosh pits during tailgates.”
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There is something special about being both a Hoosier basketball fan and a Knicks fan, two teams that experienced historic greatness followed by a long period of struggle, only to find greatness again in recent years.
For Leist, 29, Anunoby’s rise has linked two fan bases that know plenty about long waits for championships.
“Watching OG from college to the pros has been nothing short of incredible. From the Tom Crean days to now, his special talent has transformed the Knicks in a way that I have never seen,” said former Hoosier Leist. “OG’s journey as a fan of both the Hoosiers and the Knicks has been an honor to witness.”
Even after reaching the NBA, former classmates say Anunoby never changed.
Morrin said the pair stayed in touch after graduation and even reunited after a 2017 Knicks-Raptors game.
“OG always had the ability to make everyone feel special,” Lomita said.
“He never thought he was better than anyone else. He was just OG.”
