When the Notre Dame media guide said that Luke Harangody "will go down as one of the most heralded players in Notre Dame history", it carries some weight. At his graduation in 2010 he was the first player in school history to score 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, and was one of just nine Big East players to have done so. His story is all the more distinctive because, at one point, Harangody didn't think he could compete in the Big East.

If a movie director was looking for the prototypical Notre Dame basketball prospect, Harangody might have come to mind. Standing 6-8 and 240 lbs. he grew up 70 miles from the campus in Merrillville, IN, playing CYO basketball before joining the high school program at Andrean, a small Catholic high school there. Despite being ranked as the #4 high school prospect in Indiana, Harangody received only two major offers, Notre Dame and Purdue, signing with ND in the fall of 2005.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey gave Harangody time to adjust to college play before starting him in the Big East season opener against Louisville, whereupon he started all 16 games in conferece play and finished fourth on the team in scoring overall as a freshman. Yet Harangody himself conceded that he was not in shape for the speed of the game, and dedicated himself to a strength and conditioning regimen which lowered his body fat from 14 to 8 percent and increased his stamina for the grind of Big East play. The results over his next three years were astounding.

Harangody dominated the Big East scoring and rebounding charts during a 2007-08 season where Notre Dame finished one game short of the Big East regular season crowd with a 14-4 record, its best over ND's 18 years in the conference. He scored in double figures in each of his last 31 games, with a season high 40 versus Louisville and double-double (points and rebounding) scoring in six straight games, including a 24 point second half in ND's comeback win over Cincinnati. A first team All-Big East selection, Harangody was named Big East Player of the Year in 2008, finishing his season in the second round of the NCAA with a carrer best 22 rebound effort versus Washington State.

Notre Dame took a step back in 2008-09 but Harangody continued to excel. He scored double doubles in 11 straight non-conference games and 25 games overall, with a season high 31 points and 11 rebounds versus Georgetown and 31 and 11 versus St. John's. His 231 points in Big East play was a new conference record.

As a senior, Harangody was in range of one of the Irish's most hallowed records--the career scoring mark of Austin Carr (1968-71) with 2,560 points. In one two game stretch, he combined for 68 points and 22 rebounds in wins over Connecticut and South Florida, and entered February in sight of Carr's record. On Feb. 11, 2010, Harangody suffered a knee injury ending a run of 108 consecutive starts, whereupon the Irish dropped three straight and were never in contention again for Big East honors. He returned five games later at season's end but was not the scorer he once was, scoring just four points as ND lost in the first round of the NCAA's.

Notre Dame's first three time All-American since 1950, Luke Harangody led the Fighting Irish in scoring 72 times in 108 starts and finished his career second all time in scoring and rebounding. A second round draft pick of the Boston Celtics, he saw action in three NBA seasons and three years in Europe.