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:
Wesley averaged 5.0 points and 2.7 assists over 37 games as a rookie with the Spurs.
2016: Demetrius Jackson, Boston Celtics, 45th overall pick
Jackson averaged 1.8 points over 26 games with three teams over three seasons.
Connaughton won the 2021 NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks and competed in the 2020 Slam Dunk Contest.
Grant averaged 6.1 points and 2.9 assists a game over five seasons with four teams.
2010: Luke Harangody, Boston Celtics, 52nd overall
Harangody averaged 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds a game over two seasons with the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.
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2002: Ryan Humphrey, Utah Jazz, 19th overall
Humphrey averaged 2.3 points and 2.2 rebounds a game over three seasons with the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies.
Murphy averaged 10.8 points and 7.8 rebounds a game over 12 seasons with six teams.
1998: Pat Garrity, Milwaukee Bucks, 19th overall
Before participating twice in the 3-Point Contest, Garrity was involved in two trades on draft night that brought both Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash to the Dallas Mavericks.
1994: Monty Williams, New York Knicks, 24th overall pick
Williams averaged 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds a game over nine seasons with five teams and just earned a record contract to coach the Detroit Pistons two years after coaching the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals.
Story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire
Source: Yahoo Sports
