Pat Connaughton tells Boston radio station he may not report to O's this summer

Coming off a college basketball season where he helped lead Notre Dame to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, it looks like Orioles minor league pitcher Pat Connaughton may not yet be ready to put basketball in his rear-view mirror for good.

Connaughton was drafted by the Orioles in the fourth round last June and signed for a slot bonus of $428,100.

He reported to short-season Single-A Aberdeen and went 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA. In 14 2/3 innings, the right-hander allowed 13 hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts. The O's liked what they saw in that small sample size and his fastball ranged from 91 to as high as 96.

Connaughton is rated as the organization's No. 11 prospect by Baseball America.

He is not considered a top NBA prospect, but Connaughton told Boston radio station WEEI earlier today he is likely to pursue a chance with the NBA and now, at least temporarily, will put his baseball career on hold.

"It is something that I'm going to play day-by-day. Right now, I have an opportunity with basketball ahead of me that a lot of teams I've been talking to," Connaughton said. "I've put myself in a position where as a kid I always dreamed of it. I think baseball for me is always something I loved to do and something that I was always a little bit better at.

"I'm not going to explore basketball recklessly. I'm still going to make sure I have a realistic opportunity before I explore the options. As of right now, I'm going to explore basketball and see what happens and see how baseball plays out afterwards."

The WEEI hosts then asked Connaughton if he would be reporting to the Orioles to pitch this summer.

"As of right now I'm not," he said. "Depends on basketball. I very well could be. It's a unique opportunity. Not many guys on a professional baseball roster have the ability to pursue another professional sport.

"I want to make sure that I at least seek out that bridge and cross it before I burn it. So kids in this day and age know you don't have to necessarily specialize in one sport, no matter how much society and your coaches are pushing you toward that."

Connaughton seemed to make it clear that he was pursuing only an NBA opportunity in basketball. He was asked if he would stick with baseball even if he had the chance to play pro basketball in Europe.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "For me, I love basketball and I love baseball. I am not going to hinder my ability to get to MLB as fast as possible to go overseas in France or Europe. I am sure those are fabulous countries, but I like America a little more."

Orioles manager Buck Showalter told MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko and other reporters in camp today that the Orioles would give Connaughton some time to make some decisions on his future.

"We are going to let him sit on it for a day or so, let him get back to school and what have you and then get an idea (on when he would join the Orioles). We'd like to have him," Showalter said. "We're not going to pressure him, push him. We want, though, when he decides that it is done, the NBA ain't there, then his full attention comes to baseball instead of coming right to us and then wondering. And now he goes back, now he comes back. He's got to get this out of his system and we are going to let him do it. Once he gets here, he's got to turn the page."

In a text message this morning, a club official told me they planned to give Connaughton a day or two to catch his breath after the NCAA Tournament before reaching out to him.