Harold Swanagan won’t be around next season. Not in person at least. On film, though, he will remain a strong presence in the Notre Dame locker room.
The Irish seniors–Swanagan, David Graves and Ryan Humphrey–leave behind a winning legacy.
The seniors, who had Troy Murphy as a classmate before he departed early for the NBA a year ago, finished their college careers with three straight 20-win seasons, two straight NCAA tournament appearances and two straight 10-win Big East records–which their successors will be expected to build on.
Freshman point guard Chris Thomas, the Big East rookie of the year, will be expected to improve on his impressive season–including a 16-point scoring average and a Big East-best 7.6 assists per game.
In Notre Dame’s four postseason games, two in the Big East tournament, and two in the NCAA tournament, junior Matt Carroll averaged 20 points and seven rebounds.
“We’re going to run a lot of stuff for him,” Irish coach Mike Brey said. “And I think how you saw him play the last month is how he’ll play all the time.”
He will be complemented on the perimeter by 6-foot-8-inch senior forward Danny Miller, a former McDonald’s High School All-American who transferred from Maryland.
Like Graves, Miller is a potent shooter–he shot better than 45 percent in his first three college seasons.
Brey is encouraged by the level of experience he will have on the perimeter.
“Our perimeter is old and those are the guys that handle the ball the most, so that’s a good start,” Brey said.
On the inside, incoming freshman Torin Francis, a 6-10 forward who averaged 28.5 points and 11 rebounds in his senior season at Tabor Academy in Massachusetts, will be asked to fill the void left by Humphrey.
“It’s very easy to visualize what Torin is going to be able to do in that offense by watching Ryan play,” said David First, Francis’ high school coach. “Torin is a better outside shooter, he is a little quicker, but he’s not as strong yet.”
Francis will be joined up front by Jordan Cornette, who started six games as a freshman and played in 31.
Cornette mainly focused on the dirty work this season–rebounding, blocking and setting screens.
“We’re still scratching the surface on him,” Brey said. “He’s a talented kid who could do more.”
Still, he and sophomore Tom Timmermans will be expected to continue being selfless and setting up their teammates offensively, a role Swanagan perfected.
“They watched Harold all year,” Brey said. “And I will keep Harold on tape next year to remind them.”
