CJ Gunn wanted to guard Emoni Bates. Indy Heat 17U head coach Ryan Owens knew it, because Gunn told him so. It was April 2021, in between Gunn’s junior and senior high school seasons. Gunn’s Indy Heat team was playing against Bates and his squad, Bates Fundamentals. Bates, for those that don’t know, was a highly-touted recruit and had been on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Gunn, though, wanted to guard him. “Like ‘Coach, put me on him. I got him,’” Owens recalled Gunn saying. Owens said Gunn wanted to guard the opposing team’s best player every game.
CJ Gunn’s two-way skill set makes him an intriguing part of Indiana’s future
