Far from being a pain in the hoop, many of the country’s top Gaelic footballers are using the winter training ban as an excuse for some hoops.
Kieran Donaghy’s love of basketball is well known and, in fact, predates his intercounty career. The four-time All-Ireland winner is currently flying high in the Super League with Irish TV Tralee Warriors.
He is far from unique, former Kerry midfielder Micheal Quirke won national titles on the court alongside Donaghy, while Mayo great Liam McHale was an Irish international who turned down a US college scholarship.
More recently we have seen McHale’s countyman Aidan O’Shea take to Division 1 basketball like a duck to water, his coach at EJ Sligo All-Stars telling SportsJOE that the All-Star footballer is a natural.
“He has great hands and he actually has a much higher basketball IQ than I would’ve expected from someone of limited experience, with the fact that he hasn’t played for so long. But, Jesus, he’s a great passer of the ball, he just has an instinct,” said Shane O’Meara.
Good to see @MDMA_9 lining out for @eannabasketball tonight hopefully we can get a matchup vs @starryboy14 in Feb 😉 @BballIrl pic.twitter.com/mdnWPrDIFX
— Neil Lynch (@Neil_Lynch9) December 8, 2016
Well, now it seems another Gaelic footballer who likes to dominate around the middle of the field is taking his place on the paint.
Dublin midfielder Michael Darragh MacAuley is no newbie to the game, playing with Dublin’s Notre Dame when he was younger before football took hold, but now he is back in the big leagues with Commercial.ie Eanna from Rathfarnham.
After a shaky start to the league was good to get a W with @eannabasketball tonight pic.twitter.com/VkfWzSxw6j
— Michael D Macauley 🍉 (@MDMA_9) December 8, 2016
The Dublin club are now up to ninth in the table after Thursday night’s 63-67 win away to Belfast Star, which saw former footballer of the year MacAuley take to the floor.
League table for @BballIrl Superleague. Commercial.ie Éanna (3-7) will play a strong team in Pyrobel Killester(5-3) this Fri at 8pm at home. pic.twitter.com/CPln7Rgiqr
— Éanna Basketball (@eannabasketball) December 6, 2016
We know what you’re thinking and yes, the fixture that will turn all GAA fans into casual basketball fans takes place in Rathfarnham on February 18th.
Forget LeBron v Curry, Donaghy versus MacAuley is the match-up we all want to see.
It comes close to a month before the Allianz League showdown between Kerry and Dublin on March 19th, and is the perfect way to whet the appetite for the renewal of Gaelic football’s most iconic rivalry.
Diarmuid Connolly makes his long overdue GAA Hour debut and talks to Colm Parkinson about everything from the black card to his rivalry with Lee Keegan and how he honed the ability to kick accurately with either foot.
