Tag: irish in the NBA

Most recent Notre Dame players to be NBA draft selections

All of these players did the Irish proud before making the jump.

Nobody on Notre Dame’s veteran-laden team from this past season will be selected in Thursday’s NBA draft. In fact, given the inexperience across the board on the upcoming season’s roster and under a new coach no less, it could be quite a while before we see another Notre Dame player drafted. On the bright side, that means no early departures except via the transfer portal. Then again, it sure would be nice to have NBA-ready talent in South Bend.

The only way to deal with a challenging present and short-term future is to look to the past. In this case, the way to go about that is to look at former players who heard their names called on draft night over the past several years. Of the 62 former Notre Dame players who have suited up in the NBA or ABA, 41 have entered professional basketball via the draft. Here are the most recent ones:

Flashback to LaPhonso Ellis being drafted by Denver Nuggets in 1992

Who remembers this?

Later this week, a select group of young basketball players will have their dreams realized when they are selected in the NBA draft. That won’t include any Notre Dame players this time around, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look back on those who have been picked. Among those is [autotag]LaPhonso Ellis[/autotag], who was picked fifth overall by the Denver Nuggets in 1992:

You’ll notice a clip a lot of credit for Ellis’ growth in his final season for the Irish is given to [autotag]John MacLeod[/autotag], who had just taken over for [autotag]Digger Phelps[/autotag]. You’ll also notice the graphic indicated that Ellis joined [autotag]Tom Hawkins[/autotag], [autotag]Walter Sahn[/autotag] and [autotag]Robert Whitmore[/autotag] in the program’s 1,000-point/1,000 rebound club. Only [autotag]Luke Harangody[/autotag] has joined in the years since.

Ellis flourished in his first of 11 NBA seasons, making the All-Rookie First Team alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner and Tom Gugliotta. He started every game for the Nuggets, averaging 14.7 points a game and career highs of 9.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Detroit Pistons fire Notre Dame alumnus Monty Williams as coach

New team leadership has declared Williams an expensive sunk cost.

A year ago, Notre Dame alumnus [autotag]Monty Williams[/autotag] received the biggest coaching contract in NBA history. It turned out to be a very bad investment for the Detroit Pistons, who lost a single-season record 28 straight games en route to finishing a franchise-worst 14-68. That will be the only season Williams sees from the bench.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the Pistons have fired Williams. This comes less than a month after the hiring of Trajan Langdon as president of basketball operations. The Pistons still owe Williams over $65 million.

One thing Williams and Pistons ownership didn’t agree on as highlighted in the USA TODAY report was how to use second-year guard Jaden Ivey, son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag]. Obviously, that only was the tip of the iceberg.

The Pistons hired Williams after he was fired by the Phoenix Suns, whom he took to the 2021 NBA Finals. His wife also had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Here’s hoping he can take some time off now to focus on the truly important things in life.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Former Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton becomes father

Beautiful baby.

The season might be over for Milwaukee Bucks guard and Notre Dame legend [autotag]Pat Connaghton[/autotag], but he still is winning at life. Ryan Gareis, Connaughton’s fiancee and a player for the NWSL’s Houston Dash, has announced on Instagram that the two have become parents after the birth of their son Crew Leo. Look at this post and say these two aren’t thrilled to have a baby:

https://www.instagram.com/ryangareis/p/C6o9_YdPYHI/?img_index=1

Not only is this kid is going to have some serious athletic genes, but he will have some loving parents to bring him up. While they will continue to be professional athletes for as long as they are able, he will be their top priority from now on. You can see the love in their eyes.

So congratulations to the happy couple as they embark on this next stage of life’s journey. Some things are more important than sports, and this is a perfect demonstration of that.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Photos of Notre Dame alumnus Pat Connaughton in 2024 NBA playoffs

The season is over for Planet Pat.

For the second straight season, the Milwaukee Bucks have been eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs. That means Notre Dame alumnus [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] will have to wait at least another year to see if he can repeat the championship glory he did with the Bucks in 2021.

During the Bucks’ six-game first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers, for which they were without the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo, Connaughton averaged 4.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game. His best contest came when the Bucks held off elimination in Game 5, the second of two straight games missed by Damian Lillard. Connaughton had nine points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in over 31 minutes.

Connaughton is signed with the Bucks for next season and has a player option for the season after. He’ll hope his play in 2024-25 will be enough to have that option picked up. In the meantime, here are some photos from his play during his brief playoff stay this year:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: April 1-7

Here’s how Notre Dame’s two players fared this past week.

Even though the Milwaukee Bucks are on a four-game losing streak, [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had a great start to the past week. His 15 points April 2 against the Washington Wizards were one off his season high, and his eight rebounds tied his season high. He followed that with six points and eight assists the next night against Memphis Grizzlies. For the week, he averaged 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game.

Despite shooting 1 of 8 from the field over his first two games of the week, [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] had four and five assists respectively. He collected six points and four rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs’ double-overtime loss April 7 to the Philadelphia 76ers. That brought his averages for the week to 3.0 points and 3.0 assists a game.

Photographers on hand to cover Connaughton and Wesley’s teams during the past week got plenty of shots of Notre Dame’s two current NBA players. Here are some of the best ones:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: March 25-31

Not a flashy week by any standard.

It wasn’t the most productive week for Notre Dame’s NBA representation, but [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] got it off to a decent start. In the Milwaukee Bucks’ March 26 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, he made only a single 3-pointer but tied his career high in assists with nine, which he set earlier this season.

Connaughton finished his week with four points, four assists and three rebounds March 30 against the Atlanta Hawks. For the week, he averaged 3.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds a game.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] scored five points, had three assists and picked up a steal to help the San Antonio Spurs defeat the Phoenix Suns on March 25. He had four points, five rebounds and three assists in a March 29 win over the New York Knicks. That helped a week in which he averaged 2.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game.

Here are some photos that were taken of Notre Dame’s two NBA players during the past week:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: March 18-24

A couple of good games between the two this past week.

[autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had a couple of decent games this past week for the Milwaukee Bucks. It began March 20 when he scored seven points and five rebounds in a loss to the Boston Celtics, potentially an Eastern Conference finals preview. He was even better March 24 against the Oklahoma City Thunder with 11 points. It might have helped to have fellow Notre Dame legend and Milwaukee native [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag] in attendance:

Whatever the case, Connaughton averaged 6.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists a game for the week.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] grabbed four rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs’ March 19 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. His March 23 game against the Phoenix Suns might have been the best of his career. He scored 12 points to go with three assists, two steals and a block. Over the week, he had averages of 4.3 points and 2.0 rebounds a game.

Photographers were on hand to catch Notre Dame’s NBA representation. Here is some of what they captured:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: March 11-17

Not too shabby of a week for the guys.

With the San Antonio Spurs officially out of playoff contention, [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] is focused on finishing the season strong. He provided a couple of examples of that in losses to the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets on March 11 and 12 respectively.

Wesley had only four points but dished out three assists against the Warriors before collecting three assists and 10 points against the Rockets. For the week, he averaged 5.3 points and 2.0 assists a game.

[autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had seven points and four rebounds in the Milwaukee Bucks’ March 12 loss to the Sacramento Kings. He improved upon that with nine points, three rebounds and four assists March 14 in beating the Philadelphia 76ers. That was the highlight of a week in which he averaged 6.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists a game.

If you want to know how Notre Dame’s NBA representation looked for the photographers during the past week, we have you covered with these photos:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: March 4-10

Some good games this week.

This past week, [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] turned in the best game of the season for either of Notre Dame’s two NBA representatives. In the Milwaukee Bucks’ March 8 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Connaughton scored a season-high 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting and tied his season high with six rebounds. Before that, he had six points and three assists in a March 6 defeat to the Golden State Warriors. For the week, he averaged 9.0 points and 3.0 rebounds a game.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the San Antonio Spurs’ March 7 defeat to the Sacramento Kings. He scored only four points in helping beat the Warriors on March 9, but he tied career highs with nine assists and two blocks while also grabbing a season-high five rebounds. This past week saw him average 5.0 points and 5.7 assists a game.

Connaughton and Wesley were photographed a bunch during the past week. Here’s the best of what was captured of them: