| “Thank You” | ||||
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Jackson isn't sure his coach could check him in the post.
Harangody was named the league’s Player of the Year as a sophomore, the first of three straight First Team All-Big East campaigns. A midseason knee injury was the only thing that prevented Harangody from leaving as the school’s and conference’s all-time leader in points and rebounds. Jackson unexpectedly became the team’s starting point guard midway through his freshman year and never let go of the job. He matured into a true team leader by the time he was a junior and there were several times when Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey talked about Jackson almost as a peer, even hinting that he could see himself working with his now-former point guard in the future. With 93 wins, including 43 in the Big East Conference, the trio represents the winningest class in school history. Unfortunately, Thursday’s 51-50 loss to Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament means that number will stay at 93. “There is no question, when Jackson and Harangody showed up on our campus, the climate changed in our practice facility, in our locker room,” Brey said. “We got tougher, we believed more. The coach believed more. They did all of those things.” After a difficult junior season when Final Four aspirations were only realized in the NIT, Harangody flirted with entering the NBA Draft before deciding to come back to South Bend for his final season of college. “To come back one more year to play with this group of guys I've been with for four years, it was an easy sell. I wanted my senior year back,” he said. “I knew 10, 15 years down the road I was going to look back and say, ‘Man, I should have came back to be with these guys one more year at Notre Dame.’ “I'm very happy I stayed. I wouldn't change it for anything.” But Harangody’s senior year was tough as well. He missed five games late in the season with a knee injury and came back as a reserve for the first time since his freshman year. “When I went down, I thought my career with Notre Dame may be over,” he said prior to his final collegiate contest. “So to get back on the court again, starting, coming off being the sixth man, it's great. I've accepted the role.” Without Harangody, Jackson’s role as a leader became even more pronounced and he shouldered much of the scoring weight as well as Notre Dame slowed down its offense and began a six-game winning streak that did not end until the conference tournament. The speedy Jackson, who had grown as a player in Brey’s run-and-gun style, had no problem with a shift so late in his career. “No, no, no,” he said. “Anything Coach Brey throws at me, I'm very excited to have. If Coach Brey was a NBA Coach, I know he would probably make a push to get me, to make a trade just because our relationship is very, very strong.” Indeed, a strong bond was formed between the two over the past four years. “I've always been so connected to my point guards,” Brey said. “But Tory, personality-wise, energy-wise, I think there is maybe a stronger connection than maybe some of the other guys I've had.” Brey admitted that he does not want to think about the absence of Jackson’s voice next year, but is proud of the way that Jackson will leave Notre Dame. “He comes from a very violent area in Saginaw and is one of fourteen children and he's got a great family that's kept him on a heck of a path,” said Brey. “I just think it's a connection of two guys that met each other. He can finish my sentences. That's how good he is now. I start something, he finishes it. And I've really had that for three years. So it's really powerful when you have a guy of his presence selling your stuff in the locker room.” Jackson said that the connection predates his arrival at Notre Dame. “During the recruiting process the things he showed me, even watching back then when I was in high school,” said Jackson. “I always paid attention to how he communicated to his players, how close he was to his players.” Jackson said that there is also a connection because both played in the backcourt. “He was a guard back in the day. I've seen a few film clips of him, so I don't want to talk about how old school he was back in the day, but he was the man,” said Jackson. “So just watching him back in the day I knew we'd have a great relationship. “I think it exceeded what I expected coming in here. I love him like a father, and I think that's why we gel so much. That's why I understand what he wants as a team, as a point guard. As his point guard, I understand what he wants.” Jackson laughed when pressed about his coach as a player. “I seen like some old high school clips. Yeah, I don't want to talk about that, though. Because he had the old shorts, the short shorts back in the day. It was like the size of my tights now. So he was old school,” Jackson said. “He was handling the ball like crazy though. He was the man.” The current point guard doubts that the former point guard would want to challenge him. “I don't think he wants to, especially how my post-up game would be towards him,” laughed Jackson. “If he ever mentioned college basketball and us going one-on-one with each other, he might have to break out the old shorts so he can prove me wrong.” But Jackson’s respect for his coach is clear and he has the utmost trust in him. “I love him. I love everything he does,” said Jackson. “Anything he does, any choice he makes.” And the feeling is mutual. “They are great Notre Dame men,” Brey said of his seniors. “They'll graduate in the spring. They've handled their business the right way. They're class acts. That's what we talk about our program, being a class act. Those guys are that. “They'll all get a chance to play professionally a little bit at different levels, and now it's my job to help them with that.” But even before helping them with the next step of their careers, Brey had one duty he had to repeat following the loss to the Monarchs. “More than anything, I've always thanked those guys,” said Brey. And so does Notre Dame Nation. |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 19 March 2010 00:31 ) |