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Posted: Monday November 04, 2002 7:14 PM Updated: Wednesday November 06, 2002 12:56 PM Arizona State Sun Devils
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
Rob Evans could have taken the money and run. New Mexico offered him seven years at $4.9 million. It was a higher profile basketball school, playing in a gym known as the "Pit" that has been sold out for decades. He knew the state, having played at New Mexico State. Besides all that, Evans' top player at Arizona State, All-Pac-10 center Chad Prewitt, was graduating from a team that finished 14-15. But Evans decided Tempe was the place for him and turned down New Mexico last March. "I like it here," he said. "I think we are headed in the right direction." The future definitely looks bright for Arizona State despite losing Prewitt, who averaged 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds last season. "It's going to be tough replacing him from the standpoint that Chad was one of the better players in this league," Evans said. "His experience is what we're going to miss more than anything." Also gone is 6-6 starting forward Awvee Storey, who averaged 7.6 points and 4.0 rebounds last year. Storey averaged just 16.2 minutes per game. Three returning starters, seven players who saw at least 13 minutes per game last year, and a solid freshman class have optimism high. The strength of the team lies in its backcourt of 6-3 senior Curtis Millage (13.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.5 apg) and 6-3 sophomore Jason Braxton (6.1 ppg, 2.3 apg). They both were newcomers last year -- Millage was a transfer from Los Angeles Southwest Junior College and Braxton was a freshman. They came on strong at the end of the season, combining to average 26.0 points and 7.8 assists over the final five games. "It's as good a backcourt as there is in this league," Evans said unabashedly. Better than Oregon's combo of Luke Jackson and Luke Ridnour? Better than Arizona's Jason Gardner and Salim Stoudamire? "Those are both great backcourts," Evans said, "but I'll take my backcourt with anyone's. Millage is the quickest, fastest kid I've ever coached. Mental toughness is where he needs to make strides. He needs to become better defensively, too, and really attack people"
Braxton started 20 games and averaged 23 minutes as a freshman point guard last year. He needs to work on his shooting–he converted only 38 percent of his shots–but Oregon's Ridnour is a perfect example of how much a guard can improve from his freshman year to his sophomore campaign. Returning at small forward is senior Tommy Smith, who attended the ABCD Camp over the summer and has all-Pac-10 potential. Smith has grown from 6-foot-8, 185 pounds as a freshman to 6-10, 220. He averaged 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds last year, scoring in double figures in 10 of the Sun Devils' final 15 games. Cal coach Ben Braun called him the quickest forward in the country. "Tommy came along like I felt he would," Evans said. "Last year he was a little bit inconsistent. He'd have some really big games and then some mediocre ones. But I feel he has matured beyond that point, and he's as athletic as any kid I've been around." Smith's biggest challenge will be staying out of foul trouble. He fouled out of 12 games last season. Highly touted newcomer Ike Diogu will start at center, hoping to fill the substantial void left by Prewitt. The Sun Devils beat out Illinois, Seton Hall, Connecticut and Alabama for the 6-8, 242-pound freshman from Garland, Texas, who was on everyone's list of the nation's top 25 high school players. "He's going to make a huge impact and he's already there body-wise," said Evans, who calls Diogu "a young Karl Malone." Diogu averaged 23 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks per game at Garland High. He spent a majority of his summer practicing four hours a day in Garland. He also competed in the Global Games, an annual international basketball tournament that brought the world's best amateur players to Dallas. Playing the three spot will be 6-6 junior Jamal Hill, a junior college swingman from San Jose, Calif. The highly recruited Hill chose Arizona State over Kansas after averaging 23 points at San Jose City College. "He's a 3-point threat who gives us another dimension," Evans said. Challenging Hill for playing time will be senior Donnell Knight and freshman recruit Serge Angounou, who both stand 6-7. Knight averaged 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds last year, while making four starts. Knight has shown flashes of brilliance but has never done it consistently, and he's running out of time. Angounou was the 2002 Gatorade New Mexico Player of the Year after averaging 22 points, 14 rebounds, 5.2 blocks and 4.2 steals for Rio Grande High School. He scored 43 points, including 18-of-18 from the free-throw line, in a state semifinal. Angounou, the Albuquerque Tribune's City Player of the Year, chose Arizona State over the University of New Mexico. "Like Diogu, he already has the body," Evans said of the 205-pound Angounou. "I expect him to make an impact right away." The other forward spot is up for grabs, as it was last year. Seniors Chris Osborne and Shawn Redhage and junior Justin Allen will vie for playing time. The 6-7, 225-pound Redhage saw the most action last season, averaging 5.2 points and 13.4 minutes per game. He shot 75 percent from the free-throw line, tops among the Sun Devils. Allen averaged 1.8 points and 5.7 minutes–he missed the previous season because of Hodgkin's disease -- and Osborne was slightly better at 2.1 points and 6.2 minutes. "Osborne can also play in the middle for us," Evans said. Kenny Crandall, a 6-3 junior guard, is another 3-point threat who made eight starts last year and averaged 6.3 points. He made a team-best 42 percent of his 3-point shots and led the Sun Devils with 35 baskets from beyond the arc. Crandall missed six games last February after suffering a sprained ligament in his right foot. Senior Kyle Dodd will back up Braxton at the point. Dodd (3.2 ppg, 2.3 apg) made nine starts last season and recorded 44 assists and14 turnovers in his final 21 games. In his 90-game career, he has 202 assists and just 83 turnovers -- a 2.43-to-1 ratio. Evans' other big recruit is Allen Morill, a 6-6, 220-pound forward from Sam Houston High School in Arlington, Texas. Morill averaged 18.3 points and was selected offensive MVP of District 8-5A. "He's going to play right away and contend for a starting position," Evans said. Rounding out the roster are 5-9 senior guard Brandon Goldman (0.8 ppg, 2.8 minutes per game) and 6-8, 220-pound freshman forward DeWy DeWitt of Show Low, Ariz. The Sun Devils are not a selfish team, as evidenced by six players recording at least 30 assists last year. They've added muscle in their recruiting class, with four freshman standing 6-6 or taller and averaging 227 pounds, and their depth will allow them to run a faster-paced game. Arizona State made great strides last year, beating four NCAA tournament teams (Arizona, Oregon, Utah and UCLA). The Sun Devils won at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion for the first time since 1987, which Evans said is "a great confidence booster for this program." ASU rode Prewitt's back for much of the year before ultimately losing to UNLV 96-91 in the first round of the NIT. The Sun Devils dropped their final five games, and probably lost at least four games because of poor free-throw shooting. They shot 61.8 percent from the line, the worst percentage in the Pac-10. "It's definitely something we need to work on," Evans said. Now, Evans expects to take the program to another level. "The goal is always to make the NCAA tournament," he said. "We have an opportunity to take a step forward this year, a giant step. I feel we can compete with anyone in our conference, and if you can do that, you can compete with anyone in the country."
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