Pat Connaughton had a Great July
The live division 1 period just came to an end on July 31st. It was a grueling month for most elite high school players as many played a full high school season schedule over the last 30 days trying to impress division 1 and division 2 college coaches along the way.
For high school players (that have not attended prep school) it is unusual these days for them to receive high major division 1 scholarships. Last year we reported that Carson Desrosiers of Central Catholic had earned several high major scholarship offers before deciding to attend Wake Forest University. This year, the good news in high school basketball is that Saint John's Preps Pat Connaughton had breakout performances at the AAU 17u Nationals championships in Orlando. The New England Recruiting Report stated that during this past week Connaughton’s scored scholarship offers from Notre Dame and Tennessee in the process.
We got a chance to speak to Pat Connaughton tonight about his magnificient month, and as of right now Connaughton tells us he has landed eight high major division 1 scholarships from Florida, Marquette, Notre Dame, Tennessee, UCLA, North Western, Wake Forest, and Penn State. Connaughton admits "I don't know exactly what happened. Notre Dame began following my games earlier in the month in Springfield. At the Super Showcase, a bunch of schools started following me and my recruitment took off. Notre Dame and Tennessee were the first two to offer".
If you know about Mr. Connaughton, you know that he has always been considered a better baseball prospect than basketball prospect. We asked Connaughton whether he would like to play basketball, baseball, or both in college. Connaughton told us that ideally he would love to go to school on a basketball scholarship and pitch for the universities baseball team as well. But Connaughton was honest in saying that depending on what round he is drafted in baseball, that could all change.
As a matter of fact, Connaughton will leave this Friday for the Area Code games in Long Beach, California. Connaughton was selected through a tryout process to play for the Northeast team which is comprised of players selected by the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox Scouts. The tournament takes places from August 5th - 10th. Connaughton who has been clocked throwing at 93 miles an hour will be testing his talents against the best hitters on the East Coast. You can count on it, he will be more than up to the task. By the way, while he is in California, Connaughton will take an unofficial basketball visit to UCLA on August 11th.
Lastly, the young gem already has his first official basketball visit set up as he will be traveling to South Bend, Indiana to see Notre Dame take on Michigan in football on September 10th. Sounds like fun.
But before all this happens, Connaughton informed us that he will be shutting his phone down for the next four days as he will be attending a Retreat sponsored by Saint John's Prep at Rivier College in New Hampshire. He's not all about sports, as he will be missing the East Coast Baseball Showcase in Florida sponsored by the Detroit Tigers so that he can take some time to reflect on all the wonderful things that have happened to him over this past month.
As they say, great things happen to great people. We are happy for and proud of Patrick Connaughton.
