Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Connaughton, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, officially ended his three-year baseball career at Notre Dame in June when he signed a $428,000 contract with the Orioles and then spent last summer pitching for the Aberdeen (Md.) IronBirds in short-season Class A ball. On Nov. 14, the 6-5, 215-pound shoot- ing guard began his final basketball sea- son at Notre Dame as a team captain on a three-pronged mission — get his Irish back to the NCAA Tournament after a miserable 15-17 record last year, play well enough to build some attention and momentum for a run at a professional basketball career, and find a way to be- come only the 13th athlete in history to juggle jobs in both MLB and the NBA. Former MLB pitching greats Ferguson Jenkins and Bob Gibson had an oppor- tunity to do both (each played briefly with the Harlem Globetrotters). And recently deceased MLB Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn was actually drafted on the same day by the NBA's San Diego Clippers (now the Los Angeles Clip- pers) and the MLB's San Diego Padres. But all three of these legends decided to concentrate on baseball. Notre Dame's Ron Reed was part of that list when he played for the Detroit Pistons from 1965-67 before winning 146 games as an MLB pitcher from 1966-84. Acting great Chuck Connors played for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Celtics in the 1940s, and Gene Conley won a World Series in 1957 as a pitcher with the Milwaukee Braves and three NBA titles as a forward with the Boston Celtics from 1959-61. Conley re- mains the only athlete in history to win titles in both leagues. So there is precedent to Connaugh- ton's quest, and Irish head basketball coach Mike Brey said there is something else. "There is intrigue about him," Brey said of the numerous inquiries and prac- tice stops from NBA scouts. "I wouldn't count him out." Who could? Rated as only a three- star basketball player in high school at St. John's Prep in Danvers, Conn., and lightly recruited until late in his senior year, the overwhelming advice was to ditch basketball and concentrate on baseball in college. "Everything I am going through now is eerily similar to what I was going through in high school," Connaughton said. "People told me I was crazy for wanting to play both sports in college." Athletics will obviously always be an important part of Connaughton's life, but there is so much more to this young man than a lethal jump shot, a wicked fastball and an impossible dream. In addition to his athletic endeav- ors, Connaughton is on pace to earn his management consulting degree in December from the Mendoza College of Business before shifting his attention to a career in professional sports … or maybe even two. "I don't know if it will work out," Connaughton said. "But I'm not ruling it out." And why should he? ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com