Injury notes: Harangody, Raivio, Freeman, Brown

Luke Harangody may be done for the season, at least according to Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey.

"There's a chance he would not come back this season. There's a chance he could. I think we're week to week," coach Mike Brey said Monday.

The injury that Harangody has is a bone bruise which, as Rush the Court explains, is exactly what it sounds like:

When talking about a bone bruise of the knee, you're usually talking about a force that goes through the joint, meaning along the length of the bone. In other words, there's been a downward, compressive force that has caused the femur (the big bone in the thigh) to press down on the tibia (the biggest of the two lower leg bones). When that happens, vessels break along the tough, thick outer covering of the bone, leaking blood and other fluid into the bone space. Because of that thick outer covering, that inflammatory fluid tends to build up and stay in that part of the bone — and that's what causes the pain.

The issue is that this kind of injury takes time to heal, and Brey has admitted that part of the reason he is holding Harangody out is to protect the senior's potential as a pro. (Side Note: How many coaches would a) do that, risking a trip to the tournament, and b) admit it to the media?) With how well Carleton Scott and Jack Cooley have been playing, the Irish have bought themselves some time.

Personally, I hope Harangody can get back on the court. Hate him or love him, you have to agree that Harangody has been one of the best players in Big East history. Before getting injured, he was on pace to set the Big East scoring record. It would be a shame to see him end this career on the sidelines.


Portland's Nik Raivio has been out of the line-up since mid-January with an achilles strain. Yesterday, news came down that Raivio, who is the younger brother of former Gonzaga star Derek Raivio and was the leading scorer for the Pilots at the time of his injury, will not be available for the the conference tournament.

Its a big blow for Portland. If you remember back in November, Portland played their way into the top 25 as they made a run to the finals of the 76 Classic out in Anaheim. The Pilots have since come back to earth, finishing third in the WCC, but this was still a team that had the parts to make a run through the WCC and win a game in the tournament. That may still be true without Raivio (they did beat St. Mary's without him in the line-up), it will be a more difficult task.


And last night, Austin Freeman missed Georgetown's game against West Virginia with the same stomach virus that slowed him against Notre Dame, while J'Covan Brown was in the line-up for Texas against Oklahoma.