Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE C all him a dreamer, call him delu- sional or call him crazy, but Notre Dame senior Patrick Connaughton firmly believes he's ready to handle a juggling act that hasn't been done in professional sports in almost 60 years. Or at the very least, he's go- ing to give it one heck of a try. If things hold up according to Connaughton's plan, by this time next year he will h a v e a l r e a d y finished his first full professional baseball season and will have moved on to his second profes- sional sports ca- reer in the NBA. T h i n k h e ' s n u t s ? M a y b e he is. But Con- naughton isn't the type to leave anything unre- solved. And if he doesn't at least try to fulfill his impos- sible dream of playing both, well … "I would be kicking myself," he said, "if I didn't at least see what happens." Connaughton became a member of an exclusive fraternity in June when he was selected in the fourth round of the MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, joining recent Notre Dame two-sport standouts Jeff Samardzija, Golden Tate and Evan Sharpley as Irish athletes to be drafted pro- fessionally in one sport while play- ing two at Notre Dame. But Connaugh- ton is different because unlike his contempo- raries, this latest Irish two-sport star has the de- sire, and quite possibly the skill, to play both of his sports pro- fessionally at the same time. In the span of about three m o n t h s l a s t s p r i n g , C o n - n a u g h t o n d u n k e d o v e r D u k e ' s J a b a r i Parker — the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft — and then struck out Florida State's Heisman Trophy holder and All-Ameri- can outfielder Jameis Winston. Who else can make that claim? An Impossible Dream Within Reach Pat Connaughton has hopes of playing both Major League Baseball and in the NBA. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND