Notre Dame was the surprise team in the Big East last season.

It wasn't so much that the team overachieved after being picked ninth in the conference's preseason poll of coaches, it was that it was one of the best kept secrets in college basketball.

No one could have guessed center Luke Harangody would come off a good, but not great freshman year to win Player of the Year in the Big East, winning the scoring title and finishing second in rebounding.

People knew, too, that guard Kyle McAlarney was a good 3-point shooter, but no one believed he'd come off a year's suspension to hit 12 more treys than any other player in the conference, making him the perfect outside presence to complement Harangody's inside game.

Then, after a slow start, point guard Tory Jackson took control of the team, scoring some, setting up the other scorers and rebounding out of his mind to lift the Irish into the upper echelons of college basketball.

Coach Mike Brey put it all together into the league's highest-scoring package and wound up tied for second place in the conference. What's more, unless the NBA comes calling, Harangody and McAlarney are back.

Better still, Notre Dame had only one senior on it's entire roster -- underrated F Rob Kurz -- so it's possible they may be the preseason favorite to win the Big East next year.

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