Inside Slant
Notre Dame will not be the same without Luke Harangody next year.
Come to think of it, the Irish weren't the same with Harangody this year after he returned from a knee injury.
Late in the season, seemingly out of the NCAA Tournament, especially after Harangody went down with a bruised knee that would keep him out of five games, coach Mike Brey completely changed the team's approach, playing a slow-down, methodical game that kept scores in the 60s and lower.
The result was a late-season resurgence and a streak of six victories in seven games that carried Notre Dame to an NCAA bid.
Harangody got to finish one of the great careers in college basketball in the NCAA Tournament. He was a three-time All-Big East player, a two-time All-American and the only player to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game throughout his career in Big East history.
Harangody was a player who never left anything on the court and who was the inspirational force behind Notre Dame, as well as being the go-to guy in tough situations.
In fact, Harangody and Tory Jackson, the senior point guard, left a tremendous legacy on the Irish and will be long be remembered as two of the best players and people the school had on the hardwood.
The end was rather unglorious as upstart Old Dominion turned on the defense and turned off Harangody, whose final legacy is to have scored the final basketball of a 51-50 first round defeat in the NCAA Tournament.FINAL RECORD: 23-12, 10-8, t-7th in the Big East.
WHAT WENT RIGHT: The best thing that happened to Notre Dame was the worst thing that happened to Notre Dame. The Irish were struggling when their star player, Luke Harangody, went down with a bone bruise on his knee. Out for some time, Coach Mike Brey decided to change the entire philosophy of the team, going from a high-scoring, run-and-gun formula to a ball-possession, milk-the-clock philosophy. Playing less than .500 basketball, the Irish won six straight and wound up with their 15th NCAA bid. With Harangody down, PG Tory Jackson played big down the stretch in running the show. Harangody still was an All-Big East performer who averaged 22 points and 9 rebounds a game for the season. F Tim Abromaitis also came on as one of the best outside shooters in the conference, averaging better than 16 points per game.
WHAT WENT WRONG: It seemed the worst had happened when Harangody was injured, but the Notre Dame defense picked up and the offense changed and the Irish finished the season with a rush, even using Harangody off the bench rather than starting games with him. In the NCAAs, however, Harangody was stopped until the final couple of minutes without a point and Old Dominion had too much defense for the Irish in the opening round.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It really hasn't hit me yet. I feel like we have another game Saturday. I was just going to make a quote, you gotta go get the next one. That's not going to happen anymore." Notre Dame's Luke Harangody, moments after his career ended with a loss to Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.THE GOOD NEWS: Notre Dame discovered a system that will work next year in the deliberate, slow-down brand of ball played the last month of the season. Instead scoring in the 80s, they scored in the 60s, but they were able control the pace of the game. F Tim Abromaitis is back as a sharpshooter and team leader, while Carleton Scott and Tyrone Nash give coach Mike Brey an experienced frontcourt upon which to build his team around.
THE BAD NEWS: Brey has to rebuild at the guard position. The worst loss, of course, is PG Tory Jackson, who had more than 600 career assists and was the unquestioned team leader. He is one of four seniors who will be missed, joining Luke Harangody, who has been one of the great players in Big East history as a forward, guard Ben Hasbrough, a steady senior and reserve Jonathan Peoples, another guard who started 10 games his senior year.
KEY RETURNEES: F Tim Arbromaitis was among the best 3-point shooters in the nation until a slump late in the Big East Tournament. He is back with his 16-point-a-game average. Also back in the front court is Tyrone Nash, who averaged 8 points a game and will be asked to score more next season, and Carlton Scott, a 6-7 forward who did a nice job of filling in for Luke Harangody after he was injuried.
ROSTER REPORT:
G Tory Jackson never missed a game during his career and set the Irish all-time record for games played, breaking the mark of 133 held by Matt Carroll, 1999-2003. Jackson also won the Big East Sportsmanship Award
F Luke Harangody was a first-team All-Big East performer for the third straight year and one of the nation's Top 10 scorers. He was the 11th player ever to win All-Big East three times.
F Tim Abromaitis was named the Big East Scholar-Athlete of the year and was an Academic All-American.
The Irish signed three recruits this year. G Eric Atkins of Columbia, Md.; G Alex Dragicevich of Northbrook, Ill., and G Jerian Grant of Bowie, Md.
