MERRILLVILLE | Carson Cunningham had a lot of captive ears. About 100 young basketball players were at the Andrean Youth Camp on Wednesday afternoon.

Yes, many wanted to see the 59ers' new boys basketball coach. But most wanted to see someone else -- Luke Harangody -- the 2006 Andrean grad who had a breakout season at Notre Dame last winter.

Even Cunningham wanted to see and hear what message Harangody brought to the youngsters.

The excitement was in the air as Cunningham, a 1996 Andrean grad who played at Purdue, introduced Harangody to the wide-eyed kids.

"Hey, there is only one high school in the nation who can say that the Big East Player of the Year graduated from there," Cunningham said. "And that's Luke Harangody and Andrean High School."

With that, Harangody walked out like a giant, as the kids looked on in awe. One of his opening lines connected with the varsity Andrean players, who were 2-19 last season.

"Right now, people are telling me I'm not going to have as good of a year this coming year as I did last year, they're saying it was a fluke," Harangody said. "To say the least, that motivates me."

The 6-foot-8 Schererville native led the Big East in scoring at 21 ppg and was second in rebounding at 10.3. But in league play, Harangody was the bomb. He led the conference in both scoring (23.3) and rebounding (11.3). Knowing that there are doubters out there will be fuel.

Just like it will be at Andrean.

"That's what I'll remember the most," said junior center Pete Nicksic, one of 10 59ers working with the campers. "To know that he wore the same jersey I did and sweated in the same gym, that means a lot to me. We struggled last year. We can't let what other people say about us get us down.

"With coach Cunningham we have a more winning mentality. He works with us on individual skills more. A lot of people said we didn't have any talent. No one likes being 2-19. We're working hard to change that."

Harangody said even when he was getting ready for a big game against Georgetown, thoughts of Andrean's struggles were in his mind. Andrean won 55 games and three sectionals when he was in the post.

"Last year I'd hear back from the Region and I knew we were down," Harangody said of Andrean. "All I've seen today is there's a lot of young talent here and they're working hard. I always root for the 59ers."