Harangody’s return pleases Irish coach

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame coach Mike Brey joked Tuesday that he knows of a surefire way to make certain the Fighting Irish don’t have another midseason swoon like last season.

“If we could play in the Big Ten, maybe that would help us a little bit,” he said.

Brey was in a good mood Tuesday, a day after learning that forward Luke Harangody, who led the Big East in scoring and rebounding the past two seasons, will be back for his senior year. Just as important, though, after losing four seniors, including three starters, the Irish add two highly touted transfers.

Ben Hansbrough, a 6-foot-3 guard who started 28 of Mississippi State’s 34 games during the 2007-08 season and was fourth on the team with a 10.5 scoring average, and Scott Martin, a 6-foot-8 forward who started eight games for Purdue the same season, averaging 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds, will help take the load off Harangody.

“If we didn’t have the two kids getting eligible, I would have told him to stay in the draft,” Brey told reporters. “I think it would have been smart because I think it would have been too much of a risk with us rebuilding with a lot of young guys.”

Instead of having to rely heavily on freshmen big men Jack Cooley, Mike Broghammer and Tom Knight, Brey can let Harangody mentor them.

Harangody learned a lot during a two-month process where he worked out for NBA teams, losing 10 pounds and convincing himself he’s ready to play in the pros. He wasn’t ready, though, to give up his college career.

“Last season didn’t go as we wanted, and I feel with the additions we made to the team this year and with the freshmen coming in we have a strong nucleus to make a run in the Big East and even the NCAA tournament,” Harangody said. “That’s why I came back.”