Ex-Notre Dame Fighting Irish star finds new NBA home

It should come as no surprise that now that the NBA Draft has come and gone, no former Notre Dame Fighting Irish players were drafted. That’s both not all that shocking because there simply wasn’t much in the way of NBA Draft talent but also because the one guy in Markus Burton ended up withdrawing from the draft.

That doesn’t mean there was no action at all around the draft when it came to former Notre Dame basketball players. There was at least one who didn’t get drafted, but did find a way to find himself a new home in the NBA.

After a successful three-year stint with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Cormac Ryan, who initially transferred from Stanford, is now set to make his mark in the NBA, heading to the Sooner State.

The well-traveled Ryan spent his final year of college basketball with the North Carolina Tarheels, was a valuable transfer portal addition for the Tar Heels last season as he averaged 11.5 points per game and shot 35.5% from three-point range.  His biggest game of last season was when he hit six three-pointers and scored 31-points in a road win over Duke to close the regular season.

Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish star makes a move to a new NBA team

Now Ryan has agreed to a short term contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He’ll get a chance to show them what he can do, even though they didn’t pick him in the draft.

Ryan especially had the ability to drain the deep shot over and over. He will be able to take that ability to the next level and show the Thunder that he deserves an even longer stay.

It is unfortunate he couldn’t have had a longer stay with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. However, it’s clear that his move to UNC was the right one for him.