SUN DEVIL 2008-09 OUTLOOK SUN DEVIL 2008-09 OUTLOOK year ago in this very space, it was talked about how the Arizona State men’s basketball team came close in a bunch of games in 2006-07, stayed strong during a long losing streak with Agood, but young, leadership, played a bunch of freshmen, upset a team or two and built for the future with a first-year head coach as it was finding the funds and space to build a cutting-edge practice facility. The student section was teased a bit and rushed the court once and showed a tendency to get loud. A new theme is needed. Those close losses in 2006-2007 (a 4-17 record in games decided by 10 points or less) evolved into head-turning wins in 2007-2008 (7-4, including three over NCAA Tournament teams). That young leadership has now matured into a roster that has one of the league’s best seniors in Jeff Pendergraph and has eight players who have started at least one game. True, the team again played four freshman and started three on a regular basis last year, but that train has probably left the station as six of the seven freshmen who have started a game in the past two years are on the roster this year fighting for playing time. The upsets of the first year? Maybe they are not upsets when you do it consistently. ASU knocked off four teams in the top 50 of the infamous Ratings Percentage Index with wins over #9 Xavier, #14 Stanford, #28 USC and two wins over #37 Arizona. Those five top-50 RPI wins were more than NCAA Tournament teams Washington State, USC and Oregon (four each). And building for the future could apply to this coming spring, when ASU’s Weatherup Center will be completed, a big-time practice facility that will have all Jeff Pendergraph’s rebound and follow-up against Arizona was the amenities needed to recruit and then develop top talent for years the key bucket in the Sun Devil victory on Jan. 9. ASU swept the to come. And that student section? The ESPN commentators and SEC Wildcats for the first time since 1994-95 last year, and Pendergraph had 29 points in the win in Tucson. writers commented on not only how loud it was against Florida in the NIT, but how it stayed loud throughout. Even when ASU fell behind big early, they just screamed louder. in his three years, including a tumor scare, a coaching change, an eight- So what can Sparky fans expect this year? Especially after watching win season and then the roller coaster of last year being on the bubble. ASU, with zero seniors and three freshmen starters, put together one It has made him stronger. He has stayed on course on the court and in of the more impressive Sun Devil seasons in arguably the Pac-10’s best the classroom, as he will graduate this December with a not-so-simple year? economics degree. “We always want to put ourselves in position to make the NCAA Tournament The 6-9 Etiwanda, Calif., native can score (over 1,000 points in his and challenge for the things that everyone in college basketball wants,” says career), is active on the defensive end (56 blocks last year), makes his third-year head coach Herb Sendek, who is the third-youngest coach in free throws (over 75 percent in career) and, above all, is the kind of the Pac-10 but carries that loaded resume’ which includes 476 games person you want leading your program. coached, six NCAA Tournaments, 12 NCAA Tournament games and “Jeff had an outstanding season last year and knows where he has to improve,” the outrageous total of eight former assistants currently serving as a notes Coach Sendek. “He works hard and is always eager to get better. Jeff is a head coach on the Division I level. “But making the NCAA Tournament has great player to coach and a great role model for all of our student-athletes.” become increasingly more difficult. So we need to just get better daily and with Part two of ASU’s All-Pac-10 duo is James Harden, who had one of the attitude of our guys I like our chances. We’re always trying to put the players the best all-around freshman seasons in league history in a season where we have in the best position to succeed, and I think this year we have more options and more competition for spots.” AT HOME: ASU won 15 home games for first time in the 32-year history He likes his chances because he has star power in an All-Pac-10 duo, of Wells Fargo Arena last year (15-5) with wins over NCAA Tournament has a stable of solid experienced players, an energized coaching staff and teams Arizona, Xavier, Stanford, USC, Oregon and Coppin State. ASU pre- a system that continues to work as he enters his 16th year mentoring a viously won 14 home games in 1974-75 (14-0), 1979-80 (14-3), 1980-81 program with 283 career wins behind him. (14-1), 1990-91 (14-4), 1994-95 (14-3), 1997-98 (14-4), and 1999-2000 Most good teams have great senior leadership. Put a checkmark in the (14-3). ASU was 5-4 in Pac-10 home games after going 9-27 the previous Sun Devil box on this one. Jeff Pendergraph has been through a lot four seasons. 40 WWW.THESUNDEVILS.COM 2008-2009 MEDIA GUIDE SUN DEVIL 2008-09 OUTLOOK SUN DEVIL 2008-09 OUTLOOK “Ty practices hard on offense without a defense, so that tells you how sharp and FRESHMEN STARTS: ASU has had freshmen make 165 starts in the tuned in he is. He had an excellent first year and gave us a tremendous boost. He Herb Sendek 64-game ASU era. USC (136) is a distant second. NCAA clearly was the difference in a number of our wins.” Tournament teams from the past two years Oregon (41), UCLA (39) and Depth on the wing comes in the form of the steady Jerren Shipp, Washington State (4) had the fewest freshmen starts in the past two who averaged 6.8 points per game in Pac-10 play in his freshman year and years. Those 165 starts were made by seven players, six of whom are set the school mark with 23 points in his first game, the best freshman still on the ASU roster. debut in Sun Devil history. He comes from a basketball family, and his smarts were on display when he was named best cutter and screener by the coaching staff after his freshman season. Last year he started in 16 several others did the same. Harden has stretched out a bit (listed now games and shot over 80 percent from the free throw line and came up at 6-5), and the first McDonald’s All-American to sign with ASU out of big in ASU’s lopsided win over No. 17 Xavier with 17 points and seven high school since Chris Sandle in 1984 has the college basketball radar boards and then helped ASU to its comeback win at Arizona with Pac-10 turned towards Tempe. When the NBA Draft dust settled last June, he season-high 11 points. He had nine boards in the win at California on Jan. became the only returning first-team All-Pac-10 player. The most famous 17 and posted a career-best 42 minutes in the Arizona overtime win on Sun Devil southpaw since Phil Mickelson and the youngest player in the Jan. 9. He has averaged 28 minutes per game in all 64 games in the past Pac-10 last year, he became just the fifth freshman to lead the league in two years. steals (73) and averaged 17.8 points, the first freshman in Pac-10 history “Jerren is very coachable and understands the game very well and has become to notch both those marks. our utility player, sort of a jack-of-all-trades,” notes Coach Sendek. “He knows “James had a fabulous freshman year. We want to see him advance on a when to release from a screen, when to cut hard, where and when the screen is broadband like all of our players, and I think that will happen,” notes Coach coming…all those little things that are hard to teach in practice. He is very Sendek. “James is somebody who has great confidence in his ability. He knows his valuable to this program.” game and he knows what he has to do better than anybody.” One of the more intriguing parts of last year was the development Speaking of knowing what to do, ASU has a double-pronged attack of another freshman, Rihards Kuksiks. The Latvian had a light bulb at the ever-important point guard slot, and for the first time in Herb turn on beginning on Valentine’s Day last year, as he helped ASU beat Sendek’s ASU career it won’t be a freshman dribbling up the floor. Junior Derek Glasser has played in all 64 games in his career and started in 40 while sophomore Jamelle McMillan started in 16 games last year and dished out 73 assists. Glasser averaged 32.2 minutes per game in his freshman year when ASU had limited depth, just a shade under two of the top Sun Devil greats in Byron Scott (34.2) and Ike Diogu (33.3), but was able to rest more last year (26.8 minutes per game) as he shot 84.1 percent from the free throw line.