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Best Notre Dame NBA Players of All Time

By Bobby Norell

Mar 22, 2015; Notre Dame, IN, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo on a chair before the game against the DePaul Blue Demons at Edmund P. Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2015; Notre Dame, IN, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo on a chair before the game against the DePaul Blue Demons at Edmund P. Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Adrian Dantley – Power Forward

Dantley played for the Irish when Notre Dame was considered an elite basketball school, and was the best player on those teams. He was a two-time consensus first-team All American in 1974-75 and 1975-76. In those two seasons Dantley led the Irish in scoring with 30.4 and 28.6 respectively. At 6’5″ Dantley was an undersized forward, but still was an exceptional rebounder. He lead the Irish in rebounding twice, rebounding better than 10 a game.

As a freshman Dantley played a key role in Notre Dame’s famous upset over UCLA, which ended the Bruins record 88-game winning streak. He help lead the Irish to three straight Sweet Sixteens from 1974-76. Dantley decided to leave Notre Dame after his junior season and was drafted sixth overall by the Buffalo Braves, who are now better known as the Los Angeles Clippers. His finished his career as Notre Dame’s second all-time leading scorer behind Carr with 2,223 points. He most certainly would have passed him if he stayed his senior season.

By far, Dantley had the best NBA career of any Notre Dame player. Dantley played 15 seasons in the NBA and was a six time All Star. Dantley played for a number of teams including the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks and the Milwaukee Bucks. His best seasons came with the Jazz. Dantley led the league in scoring twice with Utah. Dantley is Utah’s third all-time leading scorer, only trailing John Stockton and Karl Malone.

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Dantley is perhaps the only true “star” to ever come out of Notre Dame. He had a career average of 24.3 points per game, which is good for 17th all time. He scored 23,177 points, which is good for 27th all time. His career field goal percentage of 54% ranks 16th in NBA history. No other Notre Dame player comes close to Dantley’s numbers. Dantley retired after the 1990-91 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.

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