Jan. 30, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. – Sophomore Luke Harangody (Schererville, Ind.) is among 30 candidates selected for the 2008 Naismith Trophy Midseason Candidate List. The Naismith Trophy is considered the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men’s and women’s college basketball players of the year. Earlier this week, the 6-8 forward was named as one of the top 30 candidates for the John R. Wooden Award.
The Naismith Trophy, which is presented by AT&T, will be announced in April at the Men’s NCAA Final Four in San Antonio. The Atlantic Tip-off Club’s voted the Top 30 candidates on Board of Selectors comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches, and administrators from around the country. The board based its criteria on player performances this season, and the list was narrowed from the pre-season list of 50 candidates who were announced at the beginning of the season. Harangody’s name did not appear on either of the preseason lists for the Naismith and Wooden awards.
Harangody leads the Irish and BIG EAST Conference in scoring and rebounding. Dating back to last season, he has started 34 straight games. The 6-8, 251-pound forward is averaging 19.3 points and 9.6 rebounds overall and 22.5 points and 10.8 boards in BIG EAST play. He has scored in double figures in 17 of 18 games and currently owns a career-high 16-game double-figure scoring streak.
Harangody also tops the team with nine double-doubles and scored 20-plus points on nine occasions. He has been Notre Dame’s leading scorer nine times and led the team in rebounding in 12 contests. Harangody scored a career-high 29 points against both West Virginia and Marquette and grabbed a career-high 16 boards in the Irish win over the Mountaineers.
Joining Harangody on the midseason list are: A.J. Abrams (Texas), Darrell Arthur (Kansas), D.J. Augustin (Texas), Michael Beasley (Kansas State), Jon Brockman (Washington), Chase Budinger (Arizona), Stephen Curry (Davidson), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis), Wayne Ellington (North Carolina), Shan Foster (Vanderbilt), Eric Gordon (Indiana), Mike Green (Butler), James Harden (Arizona State), Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina), Roy Hibbert (Georgetown), Ty Lawson (North Carolina), Kevin Love (UCLA), O.J. Mayo (USC ), Drew Neitzel (Michigan State), DeMarcus Nelson (Duke), Scottie Reynolds (Villanova). Sean Singletary (Virginia), Kyle Weaver (Washington State), D.J. White (Indiana) and Sam Young (Pittsburgh).
Again this year, AT&T will give fans an unprecedented voice in selecting the winner. Fan voting, through the power and ease of text messaging, will account for 25 percent of the selection process. This program sets the standard in college athletics for integrating fans into the voting process and providing them with more input than any other major collegiate sports award.