http://collegebaseball360.com/cb360-video-vault-pat-connaughton-notre-dame-two-sport-star/ http://collegebaseball360.com/cb360-video-vault-pat-connaughton-notre-dame-two-sport-star/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2015 22:48:34 +0000 http://collegebaseball360.com/?p=37272

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Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton is a rare breed of high-end collegiate two-sport athlete, with the unique combination of basketball and baseball excellence. Other two-sport greats of the past few decades have included football–baseball standouts such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders (more recently: the likes of former ND star Jeff Samardzija, plus current NFL quarterback Russell Winston and 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston). Another former Florida State quarterback, Charlie Ward, also starred in basketball and went on to play in the NBA.

Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton blocks a shot by Butler late in the 2015 NCAA round-of-32 game. Photo by Geoff Burke (USA Today), courtesy Notre Dame.

– front-page photo (also at right) courtesy Notre Dame, taken by Geoff Burke of USA Today

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Connaughton – who interestingly played AAU basketball with Cooper Ainge and cites Cooper’s father, Danny Ainge, as a notable basketball–baseball two-sport star – has given NBA scouts plenty to think about in terms of his pro prospects. A 2014 Major League Baseball third-round selection of the Baltimore Orioles, Connaughton likely would have been drafted even higher, if not for the two-sport factor. The mid-90s fireballer spent the 2014 summer pitching in the Orioles organization.

Earlier in the current college basketball season, Connaughton sat down with CB360’s Pete LaFleur for a video interview focusing on his two-sport career. It’s interesting to note that Samardzija’s older brother Sam serves as Connaughton’s agent, lending plenty of keen perspective as to the challenges, options, etc., facing an elite two-sport athlete.

In this video interview, Connaughton shares some intriguing insights about his own career and reveals what he considers to be the most impressive combination for a two-sport athlete. He also notes that the mental challenges that come with life as a pitcher – “literally, being out there on an island” – have helped him immensely during similar tense moments on the basketball court.

Pat Connaughton in action with Notre Dame baseball during the 2014 season (photo courtesy of Matt Cashore/Notre Dame).

For those of you college baseball fans who rarely follow college hoops (even during “March Madness”), you might want to check out some of Connaughton’s recent basketball exploits: tremendous three-point sharpshooting, “sneaky” effectiveness as a rebounder, great court vision and movement without the ball, and even some clutch defensive plays … none bigger than his last-second block that possibly saved Notre Dame’s season in the NCAA round-of-32 vs. Butler (pictured above).

CB360’s one-on-one video visit with Connaughton is posted below:

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We recently posted three different polls here on Collegebaseball360.com to get your feedback on a handful of questions. Here’s a look at how they came out with some thoughts on each:

One format recently discussed by the NCAA would flip-flop those formats, starting with a two-team best-two-of-three Regional followed by a four-team double-elimination Super Regional. That format is favored by 21% of those who voted.

The greatest benefit to this format would be the fact that 32 different schools would get the chance to host Regionals rather than the current 16. Eight teams would then host Super Regionals, with the winners qualifying for Omaha. That means there is a potential for 40 different host sites in the first two rounds.

The other format calls for three best-two-of-three series, which is favored by 39% of those who cast their votes. This format would allow 32 teams to host a first-round Regional, 16 teams would host in the second round and eight teams would host third round series, with the winners advancing to the College World Series. There are potentially 56 host sites under this format.

Like those who voted, we favor the third option. It would add an extra week to the postseason, but it does a couple other things that would be good for college baseball.

First, it gives more teams the chance to host postseason games.  One seeds would host four seeds and two seeds would host three seeds.  It would be pretty exciting to have college baseball in 32 locations around the country to open the postseason.

Second, it’s a format that better duplicates the way the game is played during the regular season when teams play weekend three-game series (as pointed out by the NCAA in its proposal). With the exception of the final “if necessary” games, the format is also more television friendly, because game times are all predetermined. In a double-elimination format the time a team plays on day two and day three is determined by a win or a loss on day one.

Multiple games every day would be eliminated, which makes dealing with weather a lot easier too. As we saw last year in the Coral Gables Regional, weather is a TV nightmare. (Click here to see more details on this subject).

Regular Season Poll

The second poll question is an idea floated by Oklahoma head coach Sunny Golloway. The Sooner skipper would like to see the college baseball season shift so that it is played more in the summer than late winter and spring.

“I think in the fall…should be like our summer. That’s where our athletes should take three or six (credit) hours, be able to relax more and have some down time. And then let’s start in the spring, getting going,” Golloway recently told us.

Golloway argues that college baseball currently gets lost in the large shadow of the popularity of college basketball and “March Madness“. He also thinks that college baseball stadiums around the country would have a better chance to be filled by starting later in the spring when temperatures are warmer.

Sunny Golloway

Golloway says the shift in the season would also allow for a better opportunity at a national television contract that would give fans the chance to “fall in love” with college baseball the way they have with college hoops and college football.

All the points Golloway makes are valid. However, it would be a pretty radical shift for college presidents around the country to shift their academic calenders to accommodate college baseball (even if student-athletes in other sports were still in school during the traditional academic calender). There would likely have to be a large  TV revenue guarantee to give it a chance to happen.

golloway-tv

Press “Play” above to listen to Golloway’s comments.

A shift to a summer slate would do a few other things as well:

1. It would shift the way college coaches recruit and actually see recruits. A good chunk of this is currently done in the summer months when the college season is over. If the start of the college season was pushed to even April (when high school seasons are starting) instead of late February it would make it tougher for many college coaches to ever see a recruit play in a real game setting.

2. It would virtually eliminate the college summer leagues. Cape Cod, Alaska and other points around the country might no longer be destinations of college players once their college regular seasons end. There might be a way to make it happen in August and September, but it would be tougher. The summer leagues are important not only to the highly touted college prospects, but probably even more to players lower on college depth charts who need summer leagues for the chance to get real playing experience.

3. It would tax support staffs. Even at bigger schools like Oklahoma, people who work in media relations/sports information departments and on athletic training staffs work more than just one sport. At smaller schools these behind the scenes, but very important, staffers are working two, three and even four sports. Unlike the baseball players themselves, most of these staffers would not have the luxury of time off in the fall, because they would be busy working another sport.

One thing is for sure though, there’s a new flexible landing spot in Omaha if the college schedule were to go to a summer schedule. Unlike Rosenblatt Stadium, the new TD Ameritrade Park doesn’t have to share its field with a minor league baseball team, so the CWS could take place there anytime from virtually May through October. Which takes us to…

The Stadium Poll

The sun has set on Rosenblatt Stadium

College Baseball 360 blogger (and Omaha native) Paul Fiarkoski recently answered the question “What happened to Rosenblatt Stadium?”. He also asked the question “Do you agree with the decision to replace Rosenblatt?”.  The answer is a resounding “No”.

A whopping 83% of those who voted say they do not agree with the decision to replace the historic facility. Only 15% say they do agree, while 2% say they are not sure.

It is an understandable response, especially for those like Paul who grew-up in the shadow of Rosenblatt. Nostalgia is a big part of the American psyche and change can be hard to accept. While I agree with Paul and the 83%, the question is now moot.

TD Ameritrade Park is just three months away from hosting its first game when Creighton and Nebraska break-in the new facility on April 19. The Blue Jays will play their remaining 11 home contests at TDAP after that first game and then the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament gets the final tune-up from May 24-29 before the first College World Series first pitch in downtown Omaha on June 18.

Time marches on.