Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody is on pace to break Notre Dame, Big East records

Harangody closing in on Notre Dame, Big East marks

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No one expected Luke Harangody to have a chance of breaking Austin Carr’s Notre Dame scoring record or Lawrence Moten’s Big East scoring mark when he arrived on campus four years ago — least of all Harangody.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself. It’s kind of crazy the position I’m in right now,” Harangody said. “To hear my names being mentioned with those records, that’s something I never thought would happen.”

Harangody was a worried freshman back then, wondering whether he was good enough to simply break into the lineup. His success surprised even coach Mike Brey, who believed Harangody had a chance to contribute early in his career.

“I didn’t know we were going to get this,” he said.

“This” has been one of the most productive careers in a program that has produced players such Adrian Dantley, Pat Garrity, David Rivers and Troy Murphy. Not bad for a player who didn’t earn his first start until midway through his freshman season and scored more than 20 points only twice that year.

A game against Kansas State early in his sophomore season convinced Harangody he could be a special player, when he had 19 points and a then-career-high 14 rebounds against Michael Beasley, who was the second pick in the 2008 NBA draft. The Irish won 68-59.

“I realized I was the type of player who could do this every night,” Harangody said. “I started getting a lot better.”

Good enough that he was named the Big East player of the year after leading the league with 23.3 points and 11.3 rebounds a game. His individual numbers improved to 25.8 points and 12.8 rebounds in league play last season. The stats are down slightly this year in league play to 25 points and 9.8 rebounds a game, but opposing coaches say he is more dangerous.

“Harangody is as good of an offensive player as I’ve ever seen in my limited experience in this league,” said Jim Boeheim, who has coached Syracuse since 1976, three seasons before the Big East was formed.

Other coaches say he is tougher to guard year because he is better away from the basket.

“He’s really expanded his game,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “He’s playing off the dribble a little bit, which he didn’t do before. Before he would try to back you down, where now he’ll catch it and face you and play off the dribble.”

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said it’s Harangody’s ability to shoot from outside that makes him so tough.

“He’s so good in the post you have to put a bigger guy on him. But most bigger guys can’t defend 22 feet. So you’re going to have to pick your poison,” he said.

Brey, who describes Harangody as Notre Dame’s “heartbeat and our confidence-giving guy,” said he encouraged Harangody to work on his outside shot during the offseason to get a break from the beatings he takes in the post.

“This is a young man who has had everything thrown at him,” Brey said. “They’ll play three big guys on him and beat the heck out of him and not worry about fouls. He’s had to play through that and keep his composure.”

Brey hopes Irish fans don’t take it all for granted.

“Because a lot of guys who are four year guys are taken for granted a little bit. We certainly don’t. We certainly appreciate the machine-like things he’s done for us,” he said.

With each passing game, Harangody finds himself climbing the school and Big East scoring lists. Harangody is on pace to pass Moten, the former Syracuse standout, as the leading scorer in Big East play in seven games and Carr (1968-71) as the school’s leading scorer in nine games. The Irish have 10 regular-season games before the Big East tournament and the postseason.

He also is on pace to set the league rebounding record held by Syracuse’s Derrick Coleman (1986-90). He has an outside shot of breaking the school rebounding record held by Tom Hawkins (1956-59), though he trails Hawkins by 162 rebounds.

Harangody isn’t paying attention to those statistics, saying it would be an honor to set the records but he’s focusing on trying to get the Irish (15-6, 4-4 Big East) back to the NCAA tournament.

“I’ll see where I am at the end of the year,” he said.