Moore Catholic athletic director and boys’ varsity basketball coach Kyle McAlarney will step down from his positions to accept an NBA-related job opportunity, the Advance has learned. Ironically, Wednesday (July 1) would have been two years to the day McAlarney took over as AD and coach at his alma mater following a successful pro hoops career overseas.
Tag: Kyle McAlarney
According to McAlarney, he’s accepted a …
According to McAlarney, he’s accepted a job as a player representative for Priority Sports, a prominent agency that has many dealings with the NBA. The West Brighton resident, who’s planning to become a certified agent, will have a plethora of responsibilities in his position, including training pre-NBA draftees, working in the pre-NBA draft program, conferring with college coaches and doing film work. McAlarney’s new job will entail a considerable amount of travel as Priority Sports is based out of Chicago and Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: ’07-08 Irish Win Title vs. ’06-07 Team
The Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament was filled with close games and come-from-behind wins.
The Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament was filled with close games and come-from-behind wins. It only seemed fitting that the championship feature both of those. The 2007-08 Irish won the tournament title after defeating the 2006-07 Irish, 85-81, in a game they had to fight for.
The ’07-08 Irish coughed up a six-point first-half lead and trailed by three at the break. The ’06-07 Irish led by as much as 12 midway through the second half and still held a nine-point lead with six-and-a-half minutes left. That’s when the ’07-08 Irish went on a 13-2 run to take a two-point lead. From there, the teams battled back and forth until it came down to the final minute, which the ’06-07 Irish entered with a 78-76 lead.
With 38 seconds left, Luke Zeller hit a 3 on a nice pass from Jonathan Peoples to give the ’07-08 Irish a 79-78 lead. Colin Falls was unable to answer with his own 3, and Rob Kurz got the rebound before being fouled and hitting two free throws to make it 81-78. After the ’06-07 iteration of Kurz missed a shot, the ’07-08 Zach Hillesland cleared the rebound and got it to Zeller, who made two more free throws to put his team up five and ice the game. The points scored in the final 12 seconds made no difference.
The ’07-08 Luke Harangody wrapped up the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honor with his best performance yet of 27 points and 19 rebounds. In three games, he averaged 22.3 points and 16.3 boards. Kyle McAlarney scored 25 points, including five 3-pointers, to wrap up an equally impressive tournament in which he had a 22.0 scoring average. Kurz scored 10 and joined Harangody and McAlarney in accounting for 19 of the ’07-08 Irish’s 25 free-throw attempts, all of which they made.
Falls and Kurz scored 19 points apiece to pace the ’06-07 Irish. Russell Carter achieved a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Tory Jackson scored 10, and their iteration of Harangody grabbed 10 boards off the bench.
Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: ’06-07 Irish Topple ’14-15 Irish
In a Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament that’s had some surprises, perhaps the biggest one just happened.
In a Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament that’s had some surprises, perhaps the biggest one just happened. That surprise is the field’s top seed won’t play in the final. The fourth-seeded 2006-07 Irish convincingly upset the 2014-15 Irish, 97-83, in the first semifinal.
After falling behind by six early in the first half, the ’06-07 Irish went on a 10-0 and never trailed again. That first half saw the ’14-15 Irish cut a nine-point deficit to two before the ’06-07 Irish built their lead back up to 14, though they had to settle for an 11-point halftime lead after Jerian Grant hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. In the second half, they led by as much as 19, and the ’14-15 Irish never got closer than nine. To say the least, this game played out in a way few could have expected not only in terms of the outcome, but also how it happened.
Russell Carter led all scorers and the ’06-07 Irish with 20 points. Luke Harangody had another quality game off the bench and scored 18 while shooting 8 of 11 from the field. Rob Kurz was 5 of 7 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line to score 16. Colin Falls scored 12, and Kyle McAlarney had 10 off the bench.
Demetrius Jackson paced the ’14-15 Irish with 19 points. Grant was close behind with 17 points while also dishing out a game-high eight assists. Steve Vasturia had 12, and Zach Auguste came close to a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. Pat Connaughton was held in check with only nine points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: ’07-08 Irish Squeak Past ’13-14 Irish
We no longer have a double-digit seed in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament, but oh Lord, was the last quarterfinal game exciting.
We no longer have a double-digit seed in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament, but oh Lord, was the last quarterfinal game exciting. There’s nothing more exciting than a Cinderella team giving a superior team all it can handle. In the end, the third-seeded 2007-08 Irish barely defeated the 14th-seeded 2013-14 Irish, 87-86, with a buzzer beater.
The ’13-14 Irish led by as much as 10 in the first half before the ’07-08 Irish bounced back and took a one-point halftime lead on a Luke Zeller 3-pointer at the buzzer. With just under seven minutes left in regulation, the ’07-08 Irish had built that lead up to 11, but a 15-3 run by the ’13-14 Irish put them up one with two-and-a-half minutes to go. They briefly lost the lead before going up four. A Kyle McAlarney 3 cut the lead to 82-81 going into the final minute.
Pat Connaughton got to the free-throw line with 18 seconds left and made two shots to give the ’13-14 Irish an 84-81 lead. Rob Kurz quickly tied it at 84 with a 3-pointer five seconds later. Connaughton put his team up two with an open fadeaway jumper with two seconds left. That was just enough time for Ryan Ayers to hit his only field goal of the game: a buzzer-beating 3 to send the ’07-08 Irish to the semifinals.
McAlarney led the ’07-08 Irish with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and four steals. Kurz was just behind with 20 points while shooting 6 of 12 from the field and making all five of his free throws. Luke Harangody did his part with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Eric Atkins had 19 points, seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists for the ’13-14 Irish. Jerian Grant came off the bench and scored 18 on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Connaughton scored 14, and Demetrius Jackson and Zach Auguste had 10 apiece.
Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 3 Seed – 2007-08 Irish
We round out our profiles for the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament field with a look at the 2007-08 Irish.
We round out our profiles for the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament field with a look at the 2007-08 Irish. They went 10-2 in nonconference play with their only two losses coming in the Paradise Jam Tournament just before Thanksgiving. The goodness continued during a 14-4 Big East showing, which tied them for second in the conference and left them one game back for the title. They also ran the table for the conference home schedule, becoming the first Big East team to do so in back-to-back years, and it helped Mike Brey defend his conference coach of the year award.
The Irish were one-and-done in the Big East tournament, but they still earned a fifth seed in the NCAA tourney. At that time, they were their season-high ranking of 14th. March Madness didn’t go how they had hoped as they cruised over George Mason in the first round before getting blown out by Washington State in the second. They ultimately finished 15th in the final poll.
Luke Harangody was named Big East Player of the Year after averaging a double-double of 20.4 points and 10.6 rebounds a game. Kyle McAlarney joined Harangody on the all-conference first team thanks to 15.1 points a game. Rob Kurz averaged 12.5 points and 1.5 blocks a game, and Tory Jackson paced the team in assists with 5.8 a game.
As a team, the Irish ranked eighth nationally in 3-point percentage (.405) and ninth in assists (608).
Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 4 Seed – 2006-07 Irish
Towards the end of their nonconference schedule, the 2006-07 Irish had an incident that could have derailed their entire season.
Towards the end of their nonconference schedule, during which they went 12-1 and upset fourth-ranked Alabama, the 2006-07 Irish had an incident that could have derailed their entire season. Hours after a win over Rider, starting point guard Kyle McAlarney was arrested for marijuana possession, and he subsequently was suspended from Notre Dame. Rather than let losing such a prominent player become the turning point, the Irish continued to win games and ultimately finished with a 24-8 record and the 17th spot in the final rankings.
At first, the Irish kept their overall record respectable with a 6-5 start to Big East play. Then, they got hot, winning their final five games of the regular season to earn an 11-5 record in conference play, good for fourth in the standings and enough to make Mike Brey the Big East Coach of the Year. After picking up a win in the Big East tournament, the Irish went to March Madness as a sixth seed. That was as far as they got as they were upended by 11th-seeded Winthrop in the first round.
Russell Carter paced the Irish with 17.1 points a game. Colin Falls averaged 15.3 points a game, and Rob Kurz was a threat on both ends with 12.6 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game. Luke Harangody ended with an 11.2 scoring average, and McAlarney’s 5.4 assists a game remained the team high at season’s end, although replacement Tory Jackson wasn’t far off with 4.3.
Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: ’05-06 Irish Upset ’08-09 Irish in Opener
The Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament already has an upset after one game.
The Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament already has an upset after one game. The 13th-seeded 2005-06 Irish squeaked by the 12th-seeded 2008-09 Irish, 68-65, to open the first round. Like all great college basketball games, this one came down to the wire.
After leading for much of the first half, the ’05-06 Irish fell behind by eight at halftime. From there, they came back to take the lead, but the ’08-09 Irish stayed on their tail to the point where the game was tied at 65 with over two minutes to play. The score stayed there until Kyle McAlarney was fouled with 52 seconds left and hit two free throws to make it 67-65. Torin Francis then tipped away a jump hook from Tyrone Nash on the other end, and Rob Kurz came up with it, allowing the ’05-06 Irish to burn some clock.
After Russell Carter missed a shot, Francis collected the offensive rebound and got the ball back to Carter, who was fouled and had a chance to ice the game with two free throws with eight seconds left. Carter made the first shot, but missed the second, and Luke Harangody got the rebound, giving the ’08-09 Irish one chance to force overtime. Harangody missed a straightaway 3 at the buzzer, and the oldest Irish team in the field was able to celebrate. They will play the fifth-seeded 2016-17 Irish in the second round.
Chris Quinn led the ’05-06 Irish with 17 points, and Carter was just behind him with 15. Francis just missed out on a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds. Kurz came up short on double figures in both of those categories at eight points and nine boards.
Harangody’s 21-point, 17-rebound effort for the ’08-09 Irish went to waste, as did a 12-point game from Tory Jackson.
Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 12 Seed – 2008-09 Irish
Fresh off Luke Harangody’s Big East Player of the Year campaign, Notre Dame entered 2008-09 anticipating a big season.
Fresh off Luke Harangody’s Big East Player of the Year campaign, Notre Dame entered 2008-09 anticipating a big season. The national writers agreed, ranking the Irish ninth in the AP preseason poll. At first, the Irish rewarded the writers’ faith with a 9-2 nonconfernce record and a 3-1 start to Big East play. The ranking ascended to as high as seventh.
Unfortunately, the bottom fell out once the tough part of the Big East schedule began as the Irish lost their next seven games, six of them against ranked teams, and the final deficit in each never was closer than seven points. Somehow, the Irish recovered enough to earn an NIT berth, and they made the most of it. They won their first three tournament games in South Bend before falling to Penn State in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. At 21-15, things certainly could have gone a lot worse.
Averaging 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds a game, Harangody broke LaPhonso Ellis’ program record for most double-doubles in a season (25) and became the sixth Notre Dame player to reach 400 rebounds in a season (401). This season was the last for seniors Luke Zeller, Ryan Ayers, Zach Hillesland and Kyle McAlarney, all of whom were key cogs in the rotation for their farewell tour. Tory Jackson was the team’s best passer with 4.9 assists a game to compliment a 10.6 scoring average.