2008-09 was supposed to be Notre Dame's year. After a couple of steadily improved seasons under coach Mike Brey, the Irish were set to leverage their two biggest assets -- All-American forward Luke Harangody and sharpshooting guard Kyle McAlarney -- into Big East and Final Four contention. Some pundits believed the Irish were the third- or fourth-best team in the entire country. It was going to be a big year.
Instead, it's been a flop. The Irish have faced a brutal Big East schedule and have withered under its pressures. The Big East is, well, how should we put this? Insane. Or it appeared that way before the season. In either case, Notre Dame caught a series of teams that were finding their stride just as the Irish were losing theirs -- Syracuse, Marquette, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and so on. And after all that, an away loss to Cincinatti, and a weird non-conference game at UCLA -- who scheduled that? -- and the Irish find themselves at 12-10 overall. Getting into the NCAA Tournament will be a miracle.
Whether you're a fan of Notre Dame or not, it's sort of a shame, you know? Luke Harangody is a rare, strange college basketball player. He's goofy. He's slightly insane. His shot form varies wildly from one attempt to the next. He does things that should never, ever work at the collegiate level, except they do, to the tune of 24 points and 12 rebounds per game. It's sort of remarkable.
What's more remarkable is that Harangody probably won't end up in the NBA draft this year, meaning he'll get another chance at team success in 2009-10. But for now, it's a little sad his team couldn't match his own performance. It's wasteful.
Notre Dame's Season Doesn't Live Up to Star's Performance
For Harangody's sake, it's a shame Notre Dame's season has fizzled
Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
