2009-10 Arizona State Basketball Predictions

Written by Rock Henderson

No team in the Pac-10 was hit harder than the Arizona State Sun Devils by the departure of former players. Coming off a 25-10 season, ASU saw James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph move on to professional basketball and leave a huge void. Herb Sendek will have his hands full finding replacements for these two superstars. A talented group of players return for the Sun Devils though and all will have to take on much more important roles compared to last year. Expect this team to once again being a major player in conference play. Looking at the college basketball odds to win the national championship, the Devils are listed at +10,000.

So how much did Harden and Pendergraph mean to this team? They combined for 34.6 ppg, Harden averaged 4.2 apg and Pendergraph led the team in blocked shots plus rebounding. Harden seemed to fade at the end of the season though after carrying the majority of the load through 30 plus games. A five player recruiting class will give Sendek plenty of options as to who can step in and make ASU fans forget about the loss of these two. Incoming freshman F Victor Rudd has the best chance to be an instant contributor. Joining Rudd will be 7-0 C Ruslan Pateev. Coach Sendek is a master of getting foreign players that fit his sytem and Pateev seems destined for that role. Filling out the class are Stephen Rogers, Alex English and Demetrius Walker. It’s is not a sexy class, but they all fit into Sendek’s philosophy.

F Rihards Kuksiks is the team’s leading returning scorer at just over 10 ppg. Kuksiks is an assassin from three point land as he connected on almost 3 per game last season and hit 44% of his tries. PG Derek Glasser is arguably the most important player on this team. While he doesn’t necessarily look like a Division 1 player, Glasser uses his quickness and vision to average 8.8 ppg and dish out 4.8 apg. The senior guard was the bonafide leader on last year’s squad and will flourish in that role once again. G Ty Abbott will start for the second straight year at the two guard. His shooting skills are sub par, but he is the most athletic Sun Devil player and is an above average rebounder for his height. Jerren Shipp can finally step out of his brother Josh’s shadow and has the opportunity to make a name for himself this year. The center position is probably the biggest question mark. Duke transfer Eric Boateng will most likely crack the starting lineup, but he is offensively challenged and mainly used to use his 7-0 frame to block shots and rebound the basketball.

The Sun Devils have all the ingredients to be a NCAA tournament team, but they have to have someone step up and big their go to guy on the offensive end in close games much like Harden was last season. They have some question marks, but what team in the Pac-10 doesn’t? Sendek is a master of the Princeton offense and has the ingredients to make it work. I don’t expect ASU to match their 25 win total from a year ago, but don’t be shocked if they win 20 plus and present some problems in the postseason.

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