Nov. 11, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Notre Dame basketball standouts Kyle McAlarney (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Ashley Barlow (Indianapolis, Ind.) will be featured on a regional cover of Sports Illustrated's College Basketball Preview issue that hits the newsstands on Wednesday (Nov. 12).

McAlarney and Barlow are one of six tandems showcased on the preview issue billed as "DOUBLE TEAM." The issue contains 42 pages of hoops coverage and features men's and women's players on regional covers. In addition to Notre Dame's duo of McAlarney and Barlow, also showcased are Briann January and James Harden of Arizona State, Rashanda McCants and Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, Courtney Paris and Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, Shavonte Zellous and DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh and Maya Moore and Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut.

The Irish men are ranked sixth in SI's preseason poll, while the women are 13th.

Sports Illustrated Men's Top 20
1. North Carolina
2. Connecticut
3. UCLA
4. Louisville
5. Purdue
6. NOTRE DAME
7. Pittsburgh
8. Duke
9. Texas
10. Tennessee
11. Memphis
12. Michigan State
13. Gonzaga
14. Georgetown
15. Marquette
16. Arizona State
17. Oklahoma
18. Davidson
19. Miami
20. Villanova

Sports Illustrated Women's Top 20
1. Connecticut
2. Stanford
3. Oklahoma
4. North Carolina
5. Rutgers
6. Duke
7. Maryland
8. Tennessee
9. Louisville
10. Texas A&M
11. California
12. Oklahoma State
13. NOTRE DAME
14. Vanderbilt
15. Arizona State
16. Virginia
17. Pittsburgh
18. Ohio State
19. Old Dominion
20. Texas

-- ND --