Early life and high school career
Cupps was born on July 6, 2004 in Dayton, Ohio to Brook [2] and Betsy Cupps. [3] Cupps grew up on a farm in St. Paris, Ohio before moving to Centerville, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, in the third grade. [4] Brook has been the head coach of the Centerville High School Elks boys' basketball team since 2013. [5] Before that, he was the head coach and athletic director at Graham High School in St. Paris. So as a young child and a coach's son, Cupps was introduced to basketball immediately. He loved it and absorbed his dad's work ethic according to his older sister Ally Cupps, "I watch how hard Gabe works, and then watch how hard my dad works. My whole life he’s just been basketball, basketball, basketball. And he loves his guys, and he gives them absolutely everything that he has. And then to see Gabe mirror that and to see how grounded he is..." [6] As a young child, Cupps often worked on his skills at home in the basement. He would pick a spot on the wall and practice passing the ball to that exact spot 50 straight times with each hand. Cupps explained that his dad would reward him with stickers, "I had a giant sticker board in my room, and I put all the stickers I got on it, so I could keep track. It was setting mini-goals for me, and I think that helped develop my passion." [4]
He played alongside Bronny James on the North Coast Blue Chips AAU team in middle school and then the Cincinnati-based AAU team Midwest Basketball Club. He led his high school team to a record of 95–20, with only eight losses coming after his freshman year. [1]
Freshman season
In 2019, Cupps enrolled at Centerville High School. On December 7, 2019, he played his first game under his dad's tutelage as the boy's varsity basketball head coach. In his debut, Cupps scored 10 points in a close 46–47 loss to Trinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky. [7] On January 11, 2020, he scored a season-high 22 points in a 52–36 win over Springfield High School. [7] The season ended with an overall record of 15–12, with Cupps playing in 25 of the 27 games. For the season, Cupps averaged 11.2 points, 2.1 assists, and 1.8 rebounds per game. His field goal percentage was 40.3%, and he made 3-point shots at a 38.1% clip. He also shot 77.1% on free throw attempts. [7]
Sophomore season
Things were a bit different in Cupps' sophomore year. After losing 66–74 to St. Vincent–St. Mary High School on January 30, 2021, Centerville amassed a 45-game winning streak, which would carry over into the final game of his junior year. Playing in all 29 games of the season, Cupps improved in almost every statistic: 48.9% in field goals, 35.2% in 3-point shots, 81.9% in free throws, 15.2 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.2 rebounds. [8] Going 26–3 that season, the Elks reached the OHSAA D1 state championship game at UD Arena in Dayton. On March 21, 2021, the Centerville Elks faced the Westerville Central Warhawks for the trophy. Cupps led the team with 16 points, making 3 of his 5 3-point attempts. He also had three rebounds and three assists. The final score, 43–42 came down to the wire after a missed 3-point attempt at the buzzer. It was the first boys' basketball title in school history. [9]
Junior season
In pursuit of back-to-back championships, Cupps and the Elks continued on their 45-game winning streak. Cupps had a few high scoring games, including a career-high game of 30 points in a victory over Huntington Prep School, 85–72, on February 13, 2022.[ citation needed ] Posting his best stats yet, he averaged 14.2 points, 6.8 assists, and 2.5 rebounds. He shot 50.3% on the season, 44.3% on threes, and 85.2% on free throws. [10] It was during this season that Cupps became just the fourth Elks player overall to eclipse 1,000 points. [4] Riding on the high of an undefeated season, the Elks once again reached the OHSAA D1 state championship game on March 20, 2022. This time they faced the Pickerington Central Tigers led by Devin Royal (who would later on be named 2023 Ohio Mr. Basketball). While the score was close throughout the game, the Tigers never relinquished the lead. After winning 45 games, the Elks finally lost, falling 48–55. Cupps led the Elks with 14 points. [11] Despite missing out on repeat titles, Cupps was named the 2022 Ohio Mr. Basketball by the Associated Press and by the OHSBCA, the first Elk to receive that honor. Among the ranks of other Ohio Mr. Basketball winners include NBA players Jimmy Jackson, Luke Kennard, and LeBron James to which Cupps commented "It is super cool. I never thought about winning Mr. Basketball, and these guys are at a super high level." He went on to say, "I think of how I was raised as a farm kid in St. Paris and looking [at] these guys [who] have pretty good gifts they were blessed with. I hope I am setting an example for how hard work can get you anywhere you want to go, and I hope it is something the younger kids see." [4]
Senior season
As a senior, Cupps averaged 15.4 points, 6.2 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game and led Centerville to an overall record of 25–4. The Elks reached the state semifinals, but lost once again to Pickerington Central High School, 57–53. In Cupps' final game as an Elk, he scored 22 points, dished seven assists, grabbed two rebounds, and garnered four steals. [12] While Devin Royal was honored 2023 Ohio Mr. Basketball by the AP at the end of the season, Cupps was named Co-Mr. Basketball by the OHSBCA (with Royal). [1]
Before embarking on his college journey, Cupps played in The Throne National Championship, a four-day single elimination tournament between 16 teams featuring the nation's best high school talent. Cupps formed a team with some of his high school teammates, and they called themselves The 'Ville. The 'Ville was given the #13 seed, and on March 29, 2023 they played their First Round game against the #4 seed Beaumont Elite (Texas) at Morehouse College in Atlanta. They won 69–57 which set up their next game in Round 2 against Second II None (Illinois). On March 30, The 'Ville's run to the championship game ended with a 51–52 loss. [13] [14]
Recruiting
While Cupps was the star of his high school teams, there wasn't much recruiting interest until his junior year (2021–22). He received his first scholarship offer in June 2021; however, after a great summer on the Adidas AAU circuit, his scholarship offers expanded to include major programs like Indiana, Stanford, Michigan, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, Clemson, Dayton, and Cincinnati. [1] On October 31, 2021, Cupps announced his top three schools on Twitter: Indiana, Ohio State, and Stanford. [15] On November 16, 2021, Cupps announced his commitment to the Indiana Hoosiers. Assistant Head Coach Brian Walsh was his lead recruiter, and after encouraging coach Mike Woodson and fellow assistant head coach Yasir Rosemond to watch Cupps play at Centerville, they were sold. Walsh said "Right from the jump, there was no convincing. They saw him one time, and they called me about four different times during the game and two thumbs up. They fell in love with him the first time they saw him play just with his IQ. He knows how to play. He's obviously not the most athletic or going to dunk on you, but when it comes down to it, he's going to make every winning play. He's going to run the team, he's going to talk, he's going to lead, he's going to take charges. He has all the intangibles that, as a coach, you're going to want in a player to help you win basketball games, and I think coach and the staff saw that right away and the belief just grew more right after that." [16] Cupps had the following to say about his commitment to Indiana, "I was kind of leaning towards Indiana for a while. Every time I kind of went back (to campus), it kind of made the feeling a little bit stronger that it was the place for me. After that game on Friday (against Northern Illinois), I was dead set that I was meant to be there. I think the thing that stood out was just the interaction between the coaches and the players and all of the stuff behind the scenes that goes into making them a successful team right now. Really, it was just confirmation of seeing that in a real game. I had seen some practice and seen how coach (Mike) Woodson had handled it in practice, but just kind of wanted that confirmation of the real thing." [1]
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabe Cupps G/PG | Dayton, Ohio | Centerville High School (Ohio) | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Nov 16, 2021 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:  Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 84 | ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 122 247Sports: 107 ESPN: 81 | ||||||
Sources:
| ||||||
