Like many college seniors, Pat Connaughton has one eye on his coursework and the other on his career.
Unlike many college seniors, Connaughton career options include two different professional sports as well as any number of business opportunities.
Connaughton is a starting guard for 11th-ranked Notre Dame, which won the ACC tournament and is a No. 3 seed in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament. The 6-foot-5 Massachusetts native is also a fireball-throwing right-handed pitcher who was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the fourth round of last June's MLB draft. Connaughton made four starts last summer for the Class A Aberdeen Birds, going 0-1 with a 2.51 ERA in short-season.
Here are Connaughton's baseball highlights from 2014:
"He's a terrific athlete who is just scratching the surface of what he can do," Dan Duquette, the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, told ESPN for a story published earlier this year. "He's got a great arm and we're hoping he puts his energy into baseball full time."
That decision is still up in the air, as Connaughton's NBA stock has been rising. If he's not picked in the second round of the NBA draft, he may earn an invite to some team's training camp. A versatile swingman who captained his team as a senior, Connaughton raised his three-point accuracy from 38 percent his junior year to 44 percent in 2015.
The Fighting Irish are winners of eight of their past nine games and upset second-ranked Duke on their way to the ACC tournament title. Here's a look at Connaughton on the court:
Connaughton, 22, has accomplished all of this while maintaining a 3.0 GPA in Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.
The Connaughton family is being advised by Sam Samardzija, whose son, Jeff, also played two sports at Notre Dame (football and baseball). Jeff chose to pursue baseball professionally and things turned out pretty well for him. Samardzija recently agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal to pitch for the Chicago White Sox.
Connaughton told ESPN's Jeff Goodman that he's leaning toward professional baseball, but a strong finish to his career could change that plan.
According to MLB.com, 12 men have played in the NBA and MLB, with the most recent being Mark Hendrickson. The 6-foot-9 southpaw played for the Philadelphia 76ers from 1996 to 2000 before enjoying a 10-year MLB career.
Now 40 years old and a grandfather, Hendrickson recently tried making an MLB comeback but was released by the Orioles.
Another notable two-sport star was Danny Ainge, who played second base for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1979-1981 while finishing his college basketball career at BYU. He went on to play in the NBA from 1981-1995 and is now the president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics.
