Tag: Pat Connaughton

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:

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.

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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:

Bucks’ Pat Connaughton Seemingly Unfazed by Patrick Beverley Drama

It all came undone for the Bucks Thursday night

The Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers last night in the first round NBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs.  As things were spiraling on the scoreboard for the Bucks, they took an even worse turn on the bench.

Bucks point guard Patrick Beverley was clearly disturbed by the happenings of the game as I’m sure the home crowd Pacers fans were letting him hear it.  He decided to whip a basketball into the stands at a group of fans while having to be restrained by teammates.

A short video of the clip is posted below.  In it be sure to watch former Notre Dame star Pat Connaughton who seemingly could not have cared less about any of the happenings around him.

Connaughton looks like he’d make a spokesman for Southwest Airlines in their next “Want to Get Away?” commercial series.

For what it’s worth, Connaughton averaged 4.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists over the six-game series.

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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:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: Feb. 26-March 3

Read about the latest from Notre Dame’s NBA representation.

[autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had a couple of pretty good games as his Milwaukee Bucks played a home-and-home against the Charlotte Hornets. The first one Feb. 27 featured nine points, three rebounds, five assists and three steals from him. When the teams met in Charlotte on Feb. 29, he scored 11 points and picked up two more steals. For the week, he averaged 6.7 points, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals a game.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] was held without a field goal during the San Antonio Spurs’ first two games of the week and completely out of the scoring column during that second game. He salvaged what had been a below-average week by getting back on track March 3 against the Indiana Pacers, making all three of his field goals and hitting three of four free throws for nine points. He also dished out two assists and picked up a steal. He averaged 3.7 points a game while shooting 50.0% from the field.

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