Archive for the ‘Notre Dame Basketball’ Category

According to Brian Hamilton’s Chicago Tribune Blog, Notre Dame center Luke Harangody might be back in time for this month’s showdown with Ohio State in Indianapolis.

Irish coach Mike Brey said Saturday afternoon that Harangody’s pneumonia was diagnosed at an early enough stage that the junior almost certainly will return for a Dec. 13 game against Boston University. And there remains an outside chance that Harangody will be available for a critical non-conference matchup with Ohio State on Dec. 6 at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I think you just kind of take it day to day,” Brey said in a phone interview. “Certainly, certainly, he won’t be able to play in these two games (Sunday vs. Furman and Tuesday vs. South Dakota). Is there a possibility he could play against Ohio State – yeah, but we’re not going to push it. We’ll reevaluate it Wednesday, Thursday and see where he’s at.

Possibly having Harangody back in time for Ohio State is absolutely great news.  Ohio State hasn’t been tested yet this year, but they are a pretty formidable opponent and are currently just outside both the AP and Coach’s polls right now.  The OSU game is in 5 days with a tune up against South Dakota State in between.

Playing a top 25 caliber team without our leading scorer and rebounder is not something any Irish fan is looking forward to so let’s hope Brey isn’t just being overly optimistic.  A win over Ohio State would look nice on Notre Dame’s resume come March though.

Luke Harangody didn’t look himself in Wednesday’s loss to #1 UNC and for good reason.  The junior player of the year candidate was diagnosed with pneumonia according to an ESPN.com report.

Harangody, the Big East player of the year last season, became ill after scoring 29 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in No. 8 Notre Dame’s 81-80 victory over Texas (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) on Tuesday in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

Despite feeling ill, he had 13 points and seven rebounds in a 102-87 loss to top-ranked North Carolina in the championship game on Wednesday.

The official website also had an update on Luke Saturday night:

“There’s no timetable set right now in terms of when Luke is going to be able to play in a game,” Irish head coach Mike Brey said. “We’re going to be very careful and cautious with his illness. Our immediate concern is Luke and is health.”

So, yeah that sucks.  With the football team in the middle of yet another disappointing season the basketball team was ranked in the top 10 and looking like a legit contender in the Big East.  Luckily the next few games for Notre Dame should be winable without Harangody.  Furman and South Dakota State are the next two games for the Irish before a tough game against Ohio State in Indianapolis.  Boston U, Delaware State, and Savanagh State round out the out of conference schedule.  Without Harangody the Irish should still be able to get through that stretch and into the Big East schedule which starts in January 5-1.

Hopefully Harangody will be able to be back in time for the Big East schedule.  Here’s hoping for a speedy and full recovery for Luke.

Kyle McAlarney and Luke Harangody were named to the 2008 Maui Invitational All Tournament team after the Irish advanced to the tournament finals against North Carolina.  The Irish came up short in a 102-87 loss, but the two Irish stars were at the top of their games in the tourney.

McAlarney played all but two minutes of the entire tournament, but still had the energy to put on one of the best three point shooting displays I have ever seen Wednesday night.  McAlarney hit 10 of 18 three pointers against the Tar Heels and scored a career high 39 points.  He averaged 25.3 points and 3.7 assists in the tournament.  He also made 21 of 38 three pointers.

Harangody didn’t end his tournament the way he would have hoped, but still had a strong showing.  Harangody came down with a stomach flu and had to take 2 IV’s just to play Wednesday night.  Against UNC he totaled just 13 points and 7 rebounds, but averaged 18.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in the tournament.  In the last two games he also recorded his first five blocks of the season.

Congrats to both Kyle and Luke.  Hopefully this is just the first of many accolades for these two and the Irish basketball team this year.

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team has a chance to do something tonight that the football team hasn’t done in 15 years and something they themselves havent done in 21 years - beat the #1 team in the country.  Last night’s win over #7 Texas has given the Irish a showdown with the #1 ranked Tar Heels.  The game will be live on ESPN tonight at 10pm and we’ll have a full recap on the homepage as well as game notes on the blog.

Tonight’s game represents a real opportunity for this program.  Mike Brey has done wonders with this team and has Notre Dame back into the national equation.  A win tonight would be enormous for the program and would be a real shot in the arm to Notre Dame’s recruiting efforts on the hardwood.  An upset of the Tar Heels would also look mighty impressive on an NCAA Tournament resume come seeding time this March.

Head on over to our Basketball Board to discuss the Irish hoops team as they embark on what could be one of the more exciting seasons in recent Notre Dame men’s bball history.  Also make sure to say hello to our new moderator over there, Jabbadoody5.

I’ll be in the UHND Chat Room during the game to talk about the game if anyone cares to join.

Go Irish and an early Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Who would have thought four years ago that at the end of November we would be talking about the 8th ranked Notre Dame men’s basketball team’s win over #7 Texas in the Maui Invitational while the football team struggles to stay above .500?  Not a whole heck of a lot of you, but we are and hats off to the men’s hoops team for beating a top 10 team this early in the season.

Here are some notes from the game as the Irish prepare to take on the #1 ranked Tar Heels tomorrow night at 10pm on ESPN.

• First off, here are some highlights of the 81-80 win over Texas from ESPN.  I would have embedded them in a post, but it looks like ESPN stop allowing people to embed their videos.  And here’s some photos from the game from the Official site.
• Notre Dame struggled mightily from the free throw line hitting just 10 of 21 including missing 6 free throws from in the final minute to let Texas back into the game.
• Luke Harangody was a beast Tuesday night with 29 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double in four games this year.  He also recorded his first 2 blocks of the season.
• Harangody also banked in a long three pointer near midcourt with the shot clock winding down in the second half.  Those 3 pioints ended up coming in handy.
• Kyle McAlanrey connected on 5 of 9 three point attempts and is now hitting on 46% of his three point attempts this season.  He ended the game with 19 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists.  McAlarney also played all 40 minutes of the game - it was the first time this year he played all 40 minutes.
• Just a note: I love saying McAlarney and Harangody while watching the games.  Typing those names out as I write and blog about the games?  Not so much.
• Tory Jackson was impressive again tonight with 16 points, 5 boards, and 7 assists.  Jackson was also connecting on his outside jumper by hitting 2 of 5 three point shots.  If Jackson can continually hit his outside jumper he will add another dimension to this offense and help open things up for Harangody down low.
• Luke Zeller played only 11 minutes and recorded just 3 points and 2 rebounds.  Last night Zeller recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards in 21 minutes against Indiana.
• Notre Dame stayed out of foul trouble all game long, but with fouls to give in the second half, the Irish didn’t use them well while AJ Abrams and Texas stormed back.
• The Irish recorded 17 assists to just 6 turnovers as they protected the ball well again tonight.
• As a team, Notre Dame shot 45.8% from beyound the three point line.
• Overall this was a great win for the Irish.  A win over a top 10 team this early in the year backs up the #8 ranking for Notre Dame and should give this team a lot of confidence as it enters its out of conference schedule after the Maui Invitational ends.

While we wait to hear where Shaquelle Evans is headed on Friday, the Notre Dame basketball team picked up a commitment Thursday in Maine center Tom Knight according to Rivals.com.

“I didn’t see myself there until a month ago. They came here and told me basically how the felt about me as a player and how I would fit into their program,” Knight said. “I got a feeling that they were looking out for my best interest and I really trusted coach Brey.”

Knight said the visit to South Bend was better than he expected and he felt like he connected with the current team.

Knight is a 6′8″, 240 lb center who carries a 3 star rating from both Scout and Rivals.  Scouting reports suggest that Knight is an atheltic big man with a nice shooting touch for a player his size.  That seems to fit right in with Mike Brey’s system.  Pretty nice pickup for Brey.  Now we just need to get Evans officially commitment to Weis and the football team on Friday.

The Notre Dame basketball team was scored their first pre-season raking since 2004.  The #9 Irish are one of four Big East teams in the top ten.  The conference, regarded by most as the toughest in the nation, boasts seven teams in top 25.

The Irish return four starters in Luke Harangody, Zach Hillesland, Tory Jackson and Kyle McArney.  Their only significant loss from a year ago was Rob Kurz.  Harangody is the reigning Big East player of the year.  Mike Brey’s team is poised to make a solid run not only at the Big East crown, but could very well find themselves deep in the NCAA tournament.

The Irish return a bench which provided 21.5 points per game, a little over one quarter of the team’s ppg average.  With four returning starters, the Irish offense could be one of the best in the country.  They have an imposing perimeter attack - NCAA’s 5th best 3-point team a year ago, shooting 41% from beyond the arc - and one of the country’s best big men down low to keep defense’s honest.

The Irish have posted 37 consecutive home wins, and are unbeaten at home over the past two seasons.  The schedule is bottom heavy.  The Irish open the season playing five of six games at home after they round up the preseason tournaments.  The Irish don’t pay a ranked opponent until January, when they host Georgetown in their 12th game of the season.   To close out the season, an impressive stretch of difficult opponents - 18 conference foes and UCLA - will challenge the Irish which could only help prepare them for March Madness.

Sorry we’ve been short on updates this weekend in wake of the big news that Kevin White has left Notre Dame to be the AD at Duke, but here’s a quick look at who people are listing as potential replacements.

Eric Hansen of the SBT published this list today:

• Mike Bobinski: In his second year of his second stint as athletic director at Xavier University.
• Rick Chryst: Mid-American Conference commissioner since May of 1999. \
• Lawrence “Bubba” Cunningham: Athletic director at Tulsa since late 2005.
• Joel Maturi: Athletic director at Minnesota since July of 2002.
• Bob Minnix: Senior associate athletic director at Washington State since February.
• Bernard Muir: Georgetown athletic director since July 2005.
• Steve Orsini: Athletic director at SMU since June of 2006.
• Gene Smith: Ohio State athletic director since 2005.
• Internal candidates: Interim AD Missy Conboy, John Heisler and Bill Scholl.

David Haugh of the Sun Times had a very similar list as well.

• Bubba Cunningham, Tulsa athletic director.
• Steve Orsini, Southern Methodist athletic director.
• Mike Bobinski, Xavier athletic director.
• John Heisler, Notre Dame senior associate athletic director.
• Gene Smith, Ohio State athletic director.
• Bernard Muir, Georgetown athletic director.

Michael Rothstein’s list had all of the same names as well.

• Missy Conboy, deputy athletics director.
• Stan Wilcox, deputy athletics director.
• John Heisler, senior associate athletic director:
• Bill Scholl, senior associate athletic director.
• Steve Orsini, SMU Athletic Director.
• Gene Smith, Ohio State Athletic Director.
• Rick Chryst, MAC Commissioner.
• Mike Bobinski, Xavier Athletic Director.
• Sandy Barbour, Cal Athletic Director.
• Bubba Cunningham, Tulsa Athletic Director.

The basketball team picked up a transfer at the end of last week in Scott Martin.

Martin told the SBT:

“It was just a good combination of things, the quality of the school, the players, the coach,” Martin said by phone early Wednesday. “Everything just really fit for me.”

Also from the SBT:

Martin averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 32 games for the Boilermakers last season. He played a good chunk of the year at power forward, but believes small forward is his best position.

Martin joins Ben Hansbrough as transfers to this year’s squad.  Neither can play this year per NCAA rules, but both will be in school this month to begin taking classes and working out with their new team.  Considering the Irish will have zero incoming freshman this year, these two transfers were pretty nice pickups for Mike Brey and the bball team.

CBS Sportsline is reporting tonight that Notre Dame assistant Gene Cross will take over the head coaching duties at Toledo.

Notre Dame assistant Gene Cross has reached a deal in principle to take over at Toledo, sources told CBSSports.com on Thursday night.

A formal announcement could come as early as Friday.

An Illinois graduate, Cross has long been considered one of the premier assistants in the country, having worked at Illinois-Chicago, DePaul and Virginia before joining Mike Brey at Notre Dame.

The Toledo Blade has picked up the story as well.

The 36-year-old Cross has received recognition as one of 10 assistant coaches “ready to take the next step” to become a head coach by CBSSportsline.com and also as a top 25 recruiter by Rivals.com.

Cross, who could not be reached for comment last night, has extensive recruiting ties in Chicago. That’s an area UT has had much recruiting success in recently, signing Chicago natives such as Florentino Valencia, Jerrah Young and Tyrone Kent.

He has 12 years of coaching experience at the Division I level and also played at Illinois. Cross has coached at Virginia, DePaul and Illinois-Chicago and got his master’s degree from Ohio State.

Tough loss for the Hoops team, Cross was an excellent assistant on Brey’s staff and will be sorely missed.