Pacers look into Pat Connaughton's 'deceptive' athleticism

Pat Connaughton has the athleticism that can make a grown man cry.

The evening of Connaughton's eye-opening NBA combine performance, his strength coach Erik Kaloyanides sat in a busy restaurant about 10 miles outside of Boston, his wife curious as to why their daughters' macaroni and cheeseburgers might have made his eyes watery. Kaloyanides was reading his phone that buzzed with text messages heavy on the celebratory exclamation points. His longtime client had tied the second-highest all-time measurement at the combine with a 44-inch vertical leap, sending Twitter into a trending frenzy and causing Kaloyanides — a former Division I offensive lineman with melons for biceps — to tear up before dessert.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little bit emotional," Kaloyanides said. "(Connaughton's) whole life he's been doing things that people say you can't. He's 22 years old and he hasn't stopped doing all the things people say he can't do."

On Tuesday, Connaughton, a 6-4, 215-pound four-year starter from Notre Dame, will have a much more discerning and stoic crowd to impress as he participates in the Indiana Pacers' second pre-draft workout. Don't expect Larry Bird to tweet "#WhiteMenCANJump," but surely the Pacers' decision makers know what took so many other NBA executives so long to figure out: Connaughton, still not projected to be selected on June 25, is one of the best pure athletes available in the 2015 draft.

"When I look around the league, and I've spent some time in the NBA, I find it really hard to believe there's not a spot for a guy that makes so many winning plays, that is so tough, such a team player," said Michael Crotty, Connaughton's former Middlesex (Mass.) Magic AAU coach who had also worked as the Boston Celtics' director of player development for three seasons.

"He's mature, his body is ready and every step of the way he keeps surprising people and surprising people. Hopefully real soon, it won't be a surprise just how good of a player this guy is and that he really belongs in the NBA."

While most people relaxed on Memorial Day, Connaughton spent the morning and afternoon getting up 500 shots and continuing his plyometrics routine with Kaolyanides. He wanted to work up a good sweat before hopping on a plane to Indianapolis. This is the same work ethic that has defined Connaughton throughout his career and especially as he has risen as a hopeful NBA pick.

After Notre Dame's run to the Elite Eight ended under a wave of Wildcat blue, Connaughton had to move quickly. He needed to prepare for the Portsmouth Invitational, a tournament for college seniors that helps land overlooked prospects on the radar, but he still did not have an invite to the NBA combine. However, that detail didn't stop Connaughton and Kaloyanides for training for it anyway.

By then, the two had already read some of the comments coming from NBA teams. They didn't take too kindly to a common phrase that peppered the scouting reports.

"It was basically feedback from NBA executives and coaches where sort of the tagline on him was 'deceptively athletic kid,' but real questions on whether or not he was athletic enough to play at NBA level," Kaloyanides said. "This was a word that was continually being brought up."

Maybe it was Connaughton's 98 mph fastball and flirtation with minor-league baseball last summer that caused NBA scouts to mistrust his basketball devotion. The Baltimore Orioles drafted Connaughton in the fourth round in 2014 and he had a 2.45 ERA in 14 2/3 innings for their Short Season team. That theory still did not take into account Connaughton's thunderous slam on former No. 2 pick Jabari Parker as a junior, his team-leading rebounding average senior year or even his swift recovery and block on Butler's Kellen Dunham at the end of regulation in the Sweet 16 game.

So, really, maybe it was something else — like equating Connaughton's lack of melanin with a perceived lack of hops.

"There's a host of reasons as to why that terminology is used, which no one really wants to or needs to talk about," Crotty said. "But if you just look at him and use the look test, you don't think he's going to jump 44 inches because let's just say, most people that look like him can't jump that high."

Motivated by the 'deceptively athletic' doubt, Connaughton, would arrive at the Athletic Evolution facility in Woburn, Mass. six days a week to work on his explosiveness and leg strength. The combine invite finally came and in front of Kaloyanides, Connaughton had registered a vertical of 43 1/2 inches, so a 44 would not have been a long stretch. Still, Connaughton's performance at the combine — besides having the highest max vertical leap, he also ranked second with a standing leap at 37 1/2 inches and tied for seventh in lane agility time — torpedoed the 'deceptively athletic' label.

Though plenty high-profile prospects did not participate in the combine drills and tests — potential lottery picks Willie Cauley-Stein, Stanley Johnson, Myles Turner and even Notre Dame teammate Jerian Grant were holdouts — Connaughton's statistics helped improve his stock. Connaughton soared from the 98th-ranked prospect on DraftExpress to No. 76. Still out of the top 60 but a sizable gain with one strong leap.

"I think that we have accomplished our goal of removing the word 'deceptively' from the title, that's for sure," Kaloyanides said. "He has demonstrated that he's all in and his main focus is basketball. How the future unfolds, who knows? … But he wants to play professional basketball and anyone who doubts that is crazy. That's his only focus right now is professional basketball."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.