Tough Crowd

Whether it is from all those driveway brawls with his brother Ty, or just spending three years in the Big East, Luke Harangody has become a very tough nut to crack.

Everywhere he goes, they all try to break him, especially on the road with hostile crowds verbally attacking Luke, and even flattering his mother before, during and after games. But Harangody won’t budge, no matter how bad it gets…and it can get pretty bad.

Harangody is the primary target for hecklers and opposing fans while on the road.

“I would love to tell you guys all the things I heard but I can’t,” Harangody said. “There’s always some great things about my mom.”

We tried to convince Harangody that this is an Internet forum and there is more freedom to share such stories than in print, but he wouldn’t budge on that either, saying his favorite “compliment” from the last two road games came in a simple four-word jab.

“HARANGODY…YOU’RE AN IDIOT.”

“For some reason, we thought it was great. It was so basic,” Harangody said. “People on the team like to walk out with me because they like to hear what the fans have to say. It comes with the territory, and obviously, I have to accept that.”

Harangody said about the only thing that bothers him is when fans harass his mother during road games. Things got so bad during the Syracuse game, Luke advised his mother to stay home for the Connecticut game this Saturday.

“She is one of the toughest people I know,” Harangody said. “But it hurts me to see when people say some things to her.”

Mike Brey can’t believe the level of harassment Harangody receives on the road. The only thing the Irish coach could compare it with was the treatment Christian Laettner received during his senior season in 1992 when Brey was an assistant at Duke.

“(Harangody) is a lightning rod for us, in a lot of ways, everywhere we go,” Brey said. “When he comes out, it’s like Letterman coming out. They wait for him to come out, and he’s just warming up kind of shooting, and if he misses a 12 footer just kind of shooting around, it’s 4,000 students reacting.”

Handling harassment is one area where Harangody has come a long way since his freshman year when the smallest things would bother him to the point of affecting his game. But Brey said Harangody has grown up both as a player, and a young man.

“He’s handled it really well, and none of us can really relate to what the heck that is like everyday,” Brey said. “He’s taken a lot of pressure off his teammates. When he walks out, they don’t even know who McAlarney is. They don’t even know the coach. They don’t give me any crap about not wearing a tie anymore. They’re so on the big guy’s butt.”

Brey got more evidence this past week into even more added maturity Harangody is starting to show as a player. In an 89-63 rout at UCLA this month, Harangody was clearly upset after the game that he was benched for the last 10 minutes. He’s a gamer who wants to play 40 minutes every time out and sitting out didn’t sit well with him.

Against Providence, foul trouble limited Harangody to just one point, two rebounds and nine minutes in the first half. But instead of pouting or being distracted when called upon, as he might have in past situations, Harangody stayed focused and responded with 17 points and six rebounds in the second half.

“It was one of those where he could have been flamed out, and we’re not going to get anything out of him,” Brey said. “And he came back in, after being chopped up minutes, and gave us good stuff. And he felt good that he handled it well psychologically.

“I hope that is something to build on, even as he is still getting better. Sometimes you think he is a finished product. Not by any means is he a finished product in the whole aspect of things.”