Northwestern scores in Detroit Catholic League

If the only thing Northwestern got out of Michigan this week was its first Big Ten win, it would still be a great stretch for the Wildcats.

But Bill Carmody and his staff also secured a pair of oral commitments from Detroit Catholic League standouts to continue the Wildcats' recent recruiting run.

Northwestern initially earned a nod from junior shooting guard Alex Marcotullio, a 6-foot-3 all-Catholic League performer for Warren De La Salle (14-7).

Then the Wildcats handed out their last 2008-09 scholarship when 6-foot-9, 220-pound senior center Davide' Curletti, a two-time all-Catholic League player at Orchard Lake St. Mary's, said yes to NU.

Curletti averages 16.1 points and 11.0 rebounds per game for St. Mary's, the No. 7 team in Michigan, according to the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News.

"He's very good in the post going to his left and right," said St. Mary's coach George Porritt. "He's really good with his back to the basket, which is hard to find.

"He's got to get stronger, but I think his game is really just getting going. I think he can play outside, too, because he has a soft touch."

Since St. Mary's and De La Salle met three times this year, Porritt also knows plenty about Marcotullio.

"He's an outstanding shooter," Porritt said. "Strong and very smart. He's got great range."

Rankings debate: Still wondering if recruiting rankings are important?

Notre Dame sophomore forward Luke Harangody was regarded as the nation's No. 83 prospect coming out of Andrean (Ind.) High School -- and just the 16th-best recruit to sign with a Big East school that year.

Now look at the Big East's statistics.

Going into Sunday's game between Notre Dame and DePaul at Allstate Arena, Harangody leads the league in scoring (21.0 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (10.6 rpg).

Not too bad for a guy who appears a little too short (6-foot-6.5) and a little too husky (245 pounds) to be a star.

"It's his motor and his will," said Notre Dame assistant Gene Cross. "He has an unbelievable will … just to beat the snot out of anybody he comes across.

"He wants to watch film all the time. He wants to practice hard all the time."

When Harangody lit up Louisville for 40 points Thursday night, he became just the second Irish player to accomplish that feat in the last 32 seasons.

Monty Williams, who scored 42 against Valpo in 1993, joins Harangody as the only players to do it since Adrian Dantley ruled the Joyce Center.

Back to normal? With considerably less fanfare than its previous game, Northern Illinois wraps up its home schedule today against Central Michigan.

The Huskies hope they'll be a little more solid offensively than they were against Western Michigan on Tuesday.

They scored just 49 points, the team's second-lowest total of the year, after going two weeks without a game due to the campus shootings on Feb. 14.

"It's not just the layoff, but the emotional roller-coaster ride they've been on," said NIU coach Ricardo Patton. "I think once the media attention kind of subsides a little bit -- I don't think it'll ever go away, not this year -- but I think that's when things will have a feeling of being back to normal."