57 Pep Talks: Former Notre Dame athlete and NBA player Pat Connaughton

 

ABC57 Saturday Kickoff host Allison Hayes is sharing messages of hope from community members across Michiana who are still finding ways to spread positivity despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pat Connaughton helped lead the Irish to the Elite 8 and Notre Dame’s first ACC Conference Championship.

Now, Connaughton is flying high in the NBA as a guard for the Milwaukee Bucks but he still finds time to mentor kids.

The Irish legend had some encouraging words to share with Michiana. 

“I do believe that when this does come to an end, the people who have used this time wisely and took advantage of this time and weren’t just sitting there playing video games all the time, will set themselves up for success afterwards. I know as a kid, I had a lot of dreams and goals. Each and every night I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘Are those dreams and goals that I have, am I doing the best of my ability to accomplish them? Or am I lacking a little bit, am I slacking, am I being lazy?’ Because there’s someone out there who’s working as harder if not harder as me to accomplish their dreams. That’s kind of what my message would be,” Connaughton said.

As for the fan who is missing NCAA and NBA basketball right now, Connaughton has a bit of advice.

“My message to him would probably be, ‘Hey, by the time this thing is said and done you might be able to play NCAA or NBA basketball. You never know, sky’s the limit,” Connaughton said.