March 17, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second straight year, junior forward Luke Harangody (Schererville, Ind.) has been named a Second Team All-American by the Unites States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Harangody, the first player in BIG EAST history to lead the league in scoring and rebounding in back-to-back seasons, heads into first round action of tonight’s first-round game in the National Invitation Tournament versus UAB, is averaging 23.2 points and 12.0 rebounds. The two-time first team all-BIG EAST honoree is the only player nationally to rank in the top-10 in both scoring and rebounding.
Harangody has scored in double-figures in all but two games this season. Overall this season, Harangody has reached double figures in 28 of 30 games. He has posted 21 double-doubles this season. That total ranks fifth in program history for a single season. He ranks fourth in Fighting Irish history with 46 career double-doubles. Earlier this season, Harangody became just the seventh player in the 104-year history of the Notre Dame basketball program to score 1,500 points and grab 800 rebounds. He currently has 1,728 points and 907 rebounds during his two-plus seasons in an Irish uniform.
Harangody has reached the 30-point plateau on five occasions during the ’08-’09 campaign. His high-water mark was a 32-point effort against Louisville. He has grabbed 15 or more rebounds 10 times during the season, including a season-best 17 boards on three occasions.
After averaging 25.2 points and 12.8 rebounds in 18 BIG EAST games this season, Harangody became the first player in league history to lead the conference in scoring in back-to-back seasons. As a sophomore in 2007-08, he averaged 23.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in league play en route to being named the BIG EAST Player of the Year. In his three-year BIG EAST career, Harangody has scored 1,031 points (19.9 ppg) in 52 league contests. Only three other players in BIG EAST history – Ray Allen (Connecticut), Richard Hamilton (Connecticut) and Pat Garrity (Notre Dame) – have scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons.
Named to the USBWA First Team were DeJaun Blair (Pittsburgh), Stephen Curry (Davidson), Blake Griffin (Oklahoma), Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) and James Harden (Arizona State).
Named to the second team along with Harangody were Sherron Collins (Kansas), Jodie Meeks (Kentucky), Jeff Teague (Wake Forest) and Hasheem Thabeet (Connecticut).