Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IMPROVEMENT BIG 2011-12 and looks to carry the momentum into this season Power forward Jack Cooley came up large for the Irish in are physically gifted, relying on top-tier natu- ral ability as a base on which to build, Notre Dame senior forward Jack Cooley came to South Bend in 2009 as a load of raw material. As a freshman, he W hile many of the Big East Conference's best big men was confused with then-senior Luke Ha- rangody based on looks alone. As a sophomore, Cooley showed prom- ise with 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game playing behind Carleton Scott and Ty Nash, but it still wasn't clear if the 6-9 player from Glen- BY WES MORGAN brook South High in Il- linois could effectively shoulder heavy minutes in the rough-and-tumble Big East. It didn't take long to get an answer last sea- son. Cooley, who was recently selected pre- season first-team All- Big East, raised every conceivable part of his game — from becoming more fluid and powerful offensively in the paint, to his overall condition- ing and tenacity on the defensive end of the floor — to emerge as the emotional engine of the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame, which lost fifth-year senior for- ward Tim Abromaitis to a season-ending knee injury around Thanks- giving, dragged its feet to an 8-5 record by the time league play rolled around, losing to the only noteworthy squads on the schedule (Mis- souri, Georgia, Gonzaga and Indiana) by an av- erage of 16 points per contest. The Irish showed some spirit early in Big East play, knocking off an overrated No. 22 Pittsburgh team at home, winning at Lou- isville in overtime and beating South Florida in South Bend for a 3-1 start. But back-to-back losses to Connecticut and Rutgers on the road brought head coach Mike Brey's team down to earth in a hurry. It prompted Cooley, in-