As Connor McCool stepped onto the floor on the second day of competition at the 2023 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships, his confidence could not have been higher. Ranked the top floor specialist in the country, a mark he achieved for the first time just two weeks prior, McCool headed into the postseason looking to win the first Big Ten title of his career.

After postseason competitions were canceled during his freshman season, McCool finished in a tie for second place at the 2021 championships, ending his night only 0.150 points behind event champion and future Olympian Shane Wiskus. The following year, McCool once again secured a runner-up finish, giving him additional motivation heading into his senior season.

As the second-to-last competitor of the day, McCool knew the score he needed to beat in his third appearance at the Big Ten Championships. 

"I've been doing really well in competitions this year, so the expectation was I was gonna go in and hit," McCool said. "I knew that I had competition. I knew it wasn't gonna be an easy road, but I knew that I was positioned well if I hit my set to the best of my ability."

Sticking his passes and his dismount, McCool earned a 14.725, the highest score he's ever achieved in a Big Ten postseason meet, to finish atop the podium and bring home the hardware. He was one of three Illini gymnasts who won a Big Ten individual title, alongside Ian Skirkey on pommel horse and Ashton Anaya on still rings.

"It means a lot because that's something I've always looked at," McCool said. "I've seen other people win Big Ten titles every year that I've been here so far. It's a pretty big stepping stone. In a really competitive conference, it's a big honor. Walking in my freshman year, that's not something I thought I was going to be competitive for. In my sophomore year, I realized I was close, and it was something I've always been working towards. 

"It felt like a stepping stone: Big Ten champ and then national champ. That felt like the natural order of things, so this feels like a big check off my list of goals to my end goal of being an NCAA champion."

McCool's conference title has been a long time in the making. His family made the move from Pennsylvania to Missouri, which gave him the opportunity to train in better facilities with more resources. Training in a gym in St. Louis, McCool connected with former Illinois gymnast Mike Filla, who was his club coach and introduced him to the world of college gymnastics. McCool realized early on in his high-school career that he would not be able to compete as an all-arounder at the collegiate level, and he instead focused on becoming a floor specialist.

His recruiting class was among the first to start using social media during the recruitment process, and he says he would tag college coaches in posts to try to get their attention while also regularly texting and emailing.

"There were a couple of schools that were showing interest, and I think that was because I wouldn't leave the coaches alone," McCool said. "Once I got their numbers, I was sending them texts with skill updates every single week. I found that they really wanted to see consistency in competitions, and I was showing that."

Though he did not receive any Division-I scholarship offers out of high school, McCool opted to join Illinois as a walk-on, committing to the Orange and Blue in October of his senior year.

"Illinois was the first one to offer me a spot," McCool said. "It was early in the recruiting process, and I was probably one of the first guys in the class to commit. I jumped on it right away because I really enjoyed my trip and the experience of the team versus some other schools that I'd looked into. I didn't see the sense of community at other places that I saw here. I was happy I did get the opportunity because after the whole recruiting process I went through, this is where I wanted to be."

In his first year in Champaign, McCool knew he and the rest of the incoming freshmen class would take on big roles in their debut collegiate seasons following the graduation of several Illini men's gymnastics legends, including two-time NCAA champion Alex Diab. McCool competed in seven meets on floor and vault and won two event titles during the 2020 campaign, which was eventually cut short due to COVID-19.

Despite not having a full season under his belt, McCool was voted one of three team captains ahead of his sophomore year. Though he was relatively inexperienced as a leader, he quickly earned the trust and confidence of his teammates and coaches, and he has served as a team captain for each of the last three seasons.

"I was very unsure because I didn't really know what I was doing," McCool said. "I think I was thrown into it a little bit. People saw I had potential in that. I had a lot of growing to do. It definitely was scary because I didn't really know what I was doing. I definitely didn't do it perfectly, but I learned a lot about myself. It was cool that people trusted me so early in the process.

"It's cool that with each year, people have gained more trust in me, and they're comfortable with me in the position, which is awesome. The guys have really taken me well, especially through that learning period when I did make mistakes. It obviously wasn't held over my head too much because I'm still here in the role."

After earning back-to-back Second-Team All-Big Ten honors in 2021 and 2022, McCool secured first-team accolades this season, while his 15 floor titles across his four-year career rank tied for fifth-most in program history.

McCool has already decided that he will be returning to Illinois for a fifth season. With a Big Ten individual title now checked off McCool's college gymnastics checklist, all that's left is to win a national title. Holding the No. 1 floor specialist ranking for multiple weeks of the regular season and being named College Gymnastics Association's Specialist of the Year, McCool has gone from a walk-on to a Big Ten champ, has used that top ranking as added motivation and comfort in his search for ultimate glory.

"I know I have a lot of capability, I have trust in my own abilities, and it was just proving it to everybody else because I wasn't a very big, well-known name coming in," McCool said. "I appreciate the coaches recognizing and appreciating my contributions pretty quickly. Coming in ahead of my freshman summer, I struggled a lot just because it was a completely new training program, way harder than I was used to. Once I started figuring things out my freshman year, I was kind of swinging. 

"I've been ranked relatively high on the floor since I got here, so I know where I'm at. Some people don't have the opportunity to compete, and it's cool that I've been able to push myself to this level."