The closest Tom Cunningham ever saw Karl-Anthony Towns come to misconduct was during the layup line before a game Towns' freshman year at St. Joseph's High School.
Working gameday security as he usually did, the longtime religion teacher suddenly felt the long, burly arm of Towns wrapped around his shoulder and escorting him toward the home stands. There, Towns' mother Jacqueline Cruz-Towns greeted them, and the 6-foot-8-and-counting prodigy introduced her to his favorite instructor.
"During warmups, most kids are in the zone, getting prepared for the game," Cunningham said. "I thought he was going to get in trouble and told him he better get back."
But this was a kid who loved learning as much as he loved playing the game that's about to make him a millionaire Thursday. Still does. At St. Joseph's in Metuchen, N.J. -- about 10 minutes from Towns' childhood home in Piscataway -- he developed a deep curiosity for the Bible and kinetics. His one year at Kentucky, he studied kinesiology with hopes of becoming a doctor once his playing days are over. He carried a 3.96 GPA in high school despite reclassifying and earning his diploma in three years and had a 3.6 in college. He used to collect coupons to alleviate strains on the family budget. Served on the high school student council. Plays the piano. Golf, too.
If the Timberwolves take Towns first overall Thursday as the majority expects them to, they'll add a real-life renaissance man to the mix.
"I think he was just super curious," said Cunningham, who taught Towns, raised a Jehovah's Witness, in Catholic studies his freshman and sophomore years. "At St. Joe's, he's the only one we ever did (reclassification) with. Long story short, he grabbed the bull by its horns. He tackled the extra workload.
"His personality is such that he doesn't want to let anyone down. He didn't want to go through this reclassification and have anyone say, 'That was a big mistake; look what happened.'"
Another example: after Kentucky fell to Wisconsin in the Final Four, Towns penned a well-written, heartfelt letter to fans, coaches and teammates and posted it on Instagram thanking them for their support and apologizing for not delivering a championship.
About four years before that at St. Joseph's Vincent Maglio Gymnasium, Towns referred to Cunningham as the "religion teacher I've been telling you about," Cunningham said. "'Whatever you're doing, keep doing,'" he remembers Towns' mother telling him. "'Karl's enthralled with class.'"
And education in general. Towns' athletic upside is renowned enough. But his ability to gather, retain and utilize information amplifies it by 20 (the same size as Towns' gargantuan shoes).
When Towns arrived in Lexington, Ky., he was a prototypical product of today's basketball development paradigm. The 7-foot, 248-pound kid was strong enough to dictate games from the paint but, having watched the Chris Boshes and Anthony Davises of the world precede him to the NBA, preferred to step out, knock downs 3-pointers and rely on his sheer size advantage to swat shots in the defensive post.
In high school, he got away with it, leading St. Joseph's to state championships all three of his seasons there, leading his team in outside shooting and earning repute as one of the country's top prospects. But as soon as Wildcats coach John Calipari got a hold of him, he sat Towns down and gave him a firm set of directives.
"If he had his druthers, he would've been a two-guard," said Calipari, who also coached Towns with the Dominican Republic's national team. "He had no real post game, and I told him, 'You're going to be a post player that can play out on the floor. You're going to learn to play pick-and-roll defense. You're going to have an idea of how to keep a quicker guard in front of you, block shots and play that way. You will fly up and down this court. You have a chance to be the No. 1 pick.'"
Towns, who rose up draft boards as this past season rolled along, didn't quite believe that at first, Calipari said. But he embraced it, playing 21.1 minutes per game in Coach Cal's platoon system and averaging 10.3 points on 56.6 percent shooting, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. During Kentucky's Final Four run in the NCAA tournament, Towns had 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
He's long and mobile enough to switch and guard just about every position. He made 66 percent of his shots at the rim and finishes through contact with a variety of post moves, but can also produce off the dribble. He can facilitate. Protect the rim. Draw charges. Make free throws (81.3 percent at Kentucky).
All these facets make Towns the favorite to go first overall, ahead of Duke big man Jahlil Okafor, the other frontline candidate for Minnesota's inaugural No. 1 draft pick.
But perhaps the scariest thing about Towns is he could just be scratching the surface.
"I read something today that said, 'They'll look back on him and ask who was the only guy to hold him under 20 points?' Then they'll say, 'Calipari,'" said the Wildcats head man, who it should be noted never passes on a chance to drum up his players. "I've had good ones, but he's right there with those guys that you look back and say, 'Whoever picks him may never trade him.' There's only a few of those in the league, and he'll be one of them."
According to reports, Towns had dinner Friday with Wolves president and head coach Flip Saunders and owner Glen Taylor and accompanied them and their wives to the Twins game. Saturday morning, Towns held his only pre-draft workout with any team, showing off some of the skills he was forced to bank during college.
Another media source, SNY.tv's Adam Zagoria, reported Monday that Minnesota told Towns after the visit it would take him first overall Thursday night. But Towns later told the Associated Press he'd received no such pledge.
"If I had a promise, I would go start eating ice cream and getting fat," Towns joked to the AP.
Promise or not, Towns' status as one of the most multifaceted big men to ever top a draft class renders him the most likely candidate to have his named called first at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. And his demonstrated hoops IQ and lust for knowledge cement him as a 19-year-old who could contribute right away but add to his game as time goes on.
That's exactly what the Wolves are looking for, Saunders said after they won the draft lottery last month.
"We want to give these guys a chance to develop and develop at a more rapid rate, and I believe that we've proven as an organization that we can develop players," Saunders said. "You look at how (2014-15 rookie of the year Andrew Wiggins) developed from when we got him to where he was at the end of the year, and we'll continue to try to do the same with who we take at the No. 1 pick."
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