Averaging a gaudy 32 minutes per game over his entire career, Connaughton helped lead ND back to national relevancy on the hardwood.
Once in an Irish uniform, Connaughton just kept the momentum going. These are just some of the schools that came offering that summer, but ultimately Notre Dame got the 2011 Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Basketball Player of the Year to join their program. Suddenly, that one lowly offer multiplied ten times over. Playing well all week, Connaughton sealed the deal when he went for 33 points and 20 rebounds in one of his final games. During the summer heading into his senior year (as a former college basketball coach I can tell you, THAT is the most important summer for any recruit, and its not close), Connaughton showed out at the AAU Nationals in Orlando, Florida. Just when it was looking like baseball might be the best route for him, Connaughton went off at the perfect time. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports Cleveland, OH, USA Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard/forward Pat Connaughton (24) dunks against the Kentucky Wildcats in the finals of the midwest regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. North Carolina, Virgina, and Boston College are just some of the D1 offers he got as a pitching prospect. While he struggled to get much attention in basketball, he had no problem with that on the diamond. Though he would have liked to have more offers, Connaughton was never in a situation where he would have been stuck anywhere: he was also a baseball prospect, and a good one at that. Hailing from Arlington, MA, the 6’5, 215 pound guard only had one offer: Bentley University, a D2 school not far from his hometown. But before playing in 139 games for the Fighting Irish, averaging 10.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG over four years, Connaughton was working his way to get notice by anyone.
Today we look at a Pat Connaughton, whose path to the league was seemingly much more straightforward than Montero’s, but when you look closer, you’ll find a different story.Īnyone that followed Notre Dame basketball the past few years knows Connaughton and his story. On Wednesday we took a look at Luis Montero, a Dominican-born shooting guard with a very tremulous path to the NBA. By Blake DuDonis 6 years ago Follow TweetĪnother day, another profile, another rookie.