Location: Tempe, AZ Enrollment:44,255 Colors: Maroon and Gold Nickname: Sun Devils Conference: Pacific-10 NCAA Division: I Founded: 1885 Web Address: www.theSunDevils.comUniversity Personnel President: Dr. Lattie F. Coor (Northern Arizona '58) Faculty Representative: Dr. Jerry L. Kingston (Wayne State) Athletic Director: Dr. Kevin White (St. Joseph's of Ind. '72) Athletic Dept. Phone: 602-965-3482 Ticket Office Phone: 602-965-2381 Sports Medicine Director: Perry Edinger Basketball Trainer: Casey Smith Asst. Athletic Director/Facility Management: Tom Sadler Basketball Facility Management: Nat Stout
Media Relations Asst. AD/Sports Information Director: Mark Brand Sports Information Address: 5th Street, ICA Building-First Floor, Tempe AZ 85287-2505 Radio Station: KMVP (860 AM) Asst. SID/Basketball Contact: Doug Tammaro
Basketball Information
Interim Head Coach: Rob Evans (New Mexico St., '68) First Year Overall Record (Years): 86-81/.515
Assistant Coaches: Tony Benford (Texas Tech, 1986), Russ Pennell (Pittsburg State, 1989), Dan O'Dowd (Bethany College, 1986)
Arena (Year Built): University Activity Center "UAC" (1974) Location: on-campus (Tempe) Capacity: 14,198 Record: 14,733 vs. Alabama, 1975 NCAA Tournament Floor: Wood 1997-98 Record: 18-14 Conference Record: 8-10/T-5th Postseason appearance: Lost in first round of NIT at Hawaii 90-73 Last conference title: 1974-75 (12-2 in the Western Athletic Conference)
STARTERS RETURNING (3 from 1997-98) Name (Pos., Ht., Wt., Yr., PPG, RPG): Bobby Lazor (F, 6-9, 231, Sr., 16.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 55.8 FG%, 77.7 FT%)
Ranked among the Pac10 leaders in five categories...named as the Pac-10's top non-freshman newcomer (Fred Hessler Award)...ranked 12th in scoring (16.8), sixth in rebounding (7.8), third in field goal % (.558), fifth in blocks per game (1.22) and tenth in free throw % (.777)...posted 13 20-point games...an honorable mention All-Pac-10 pick...a first-team Pac-10 All-Academic selection...a second-team All-Pac-10 pick according to Basketball Weekly...was 54-of-69 (.783) from the FT line in the final 11 games...averaged 8.9 rebounds in Pac-10 games...posted 11 "double-doubles"...had 13 double-figure rebounding games...a strong candidate for Academic All-American as a business major with a 3.61 GPA...earned GTE Academic All-District VIII honors...named Tribune Classic MVP after averaging 24.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the two games...had a career-high 16 boards vs. USC on Jan. 3...had 22 points and 14 boards at No. 4 Stanford on Jan. 31...posted 32 points (12-of-20 shooting) in Feb. 7 win over UW...had 20 points and 10 boards vs. UA on Feb. 14.
Eddie House (G, 6-1, 180, Jr., 11.3 ppg, 2.9 apg, 2.0 spg, 3.0 rpg)
Finished fifth in the league in 1997-98 with 2.0 steals per game (64 total)...notched 24 points vs. Eastern Michigan...has played 24 turnover-free games in 62-game career...had just 43 turnovers last year...has 201 assists and just 82 turnovers in career, a 2.45-to-1 ratio... played all 32 games last year and started in 31...hit game winning shot at Washington State on Jan. 11...also had 22 points at UCLA on March 5...set the ASU freshman record for steals with 59 in 1996-97, and also became the first ASU freshman to notch at least 50 steals (59) and 100 assists (108)...a Pac-10 All-Freshman pick and was honorable mention Freshman All-American according to Basketball Weekly...started 22 games and played in all 30.
Mike Batiste (F, 6-8, 225, Sr., 15.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.59 bpg)
Led Pac-10 in blocks per game last year with 1.59 (51 overall)...the fourth Sun Devil to lead the Pac-10 in blocks...had seven double-doubles...10-of-20 (.500) from the three-point stripe in Pac-10 play...had 16 rebounds at Cal...highs are 36 points and 20 board vs. Wagner...made the Tribune Classic All-Tournament Team...15th in the league at 15.3 ppg...seventh in rebounding at 7.8...joined the team in mid-year in December of 1996 after transferring from Compton College...played in 22 games that year...shot 72.2 % from the line and posted 25 points and seven boards against both Stanford and Arizona in 1996-97.
STARTERS LOST (2) Name (Position, Ht., Wt., PPG, RPG)*Jeremy Veal (G, 6-3, 185, 20.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg)...
Honorable Mention All-American, two-time All-Pac-10 and school's career-leading scorer.
*Ahlon Lewis (G, 6-0, 185, 7.5 ppg, 9.19 apg)...
Led the nation in assists per game and set the ASU single-season assists mark.
OTHER LETTERMEN RETURNING (1) (Pos., Ht., Wt., Yr., PPG, RPG): Jason Patton (G-F, 6-4, 205, Jr., 6.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg)OTHER LETTERMEN LOST (1) (Pos., Ht., Wt., PPG, RPG) Urit Kelly (F, 6-6, 185, 4.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg)
TOP TRANSFERS (Pos., Ht., Yr., PPG, RPG) Derrick Davis (G, 6-4, 195, Jr., 17.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, Abbeville, Ala./Cowley County C.C.) Alton Mason (G, 6-2, 180, So., 10.0 PPG, 8.3 APG, Lincoln, Neb./Barton County C.C.) Lohnnie Tape' (F, 6-7, 205, Jr., 23.4 PPG, 8.1 RPGEsperanza, Calif./Santa Ana College) Awvee Storey @ (F, 6-6, 215, So., 2.0 PPG, 1.2 RPG, Chicago, Ill./Illinois) **Storey will sit the 1998-99 season after transferring from Illlinois
TOP NEWCOMERS (Pos., Ht., PPG, RPG) Chris Bryant (G, 6-3, 195, Fr., 25.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, Phoenix, Ariz./Washington H.S.) Kenny Crandall (G, 6-4, 175, Fr., 14.0 PPG, 6.1 APG, Mesa, Ariz./Mesa Mountain View) Willie Hendricks (F, 6-6, 220, Fr., 14.0 PPG, 15.0 RPG, Seattle, Wash./Franklin H.S. Chad Prewitt (F-C, 6-9, 235, Fr., 18.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG, Phoenix, Ariz./Greenway
ALL-CONFERENCE CANDIDATES Bobby Lazor, Eddie House, Mike Batiste
RETURNING INDIVIDUAL LEADERS SCORING FG FGA PCT FT FTA PCT TP- AVG HG Bobby Lazor 196 351 .558 129 166 .777 536-16.8 32 Mike Batiste 199 358 .556 80 124 .645 489-15.3 36 Eddie House 143 331 .432 22 29 .759 363-11.3 24 Jason Patton 69 152 .454 31 43 .721 178- 6.1 21 Okeme Oziwo(95-96) 22 54 .407 19 40 .475 63 2.9 6
REBOUNDING OR DR TR AVE HG Bobby Lazor 80 171 251 7.8 16 Mike Batiste 75 173 248 7.8 20 Okeme Oziwo (95-96) 59 55 114 5.2 13
MISCELLANEOUS 3FG 3FGA PCT ASST-Ave ST-Ave BS-Ave Bobby Lazor 15 37 .405 52-1.6 32-1.0 39-1.2 Mike Batiste 11 34 .324 31-0.9 36-1.1 51-1.6 Eddie House 55 137 .401 93-2.9 64-2.0 6-0.2
SERIES INFORMATION ALL-TIME RECORD, Record vs. Pac-10 Schools: ARIZ: 72-120 CAL: 26-19 ORE: 26-19 OSU: 20-30 STAN: 25-20 UCLA: 9-41 USC: 25-31 WASH 26-17 WSU 21-22
LAST VICTORY, vs. Pac-10 Schools: ARIZ: 1994-95 CAL: 1997-98 ORE: 1997-98 OSU: 1997-98 STAN: 1997-98 UCLA: 1988-89 USC: 1997-98 WASH: 1997-98 WSU: 1997-98
MOST POINTS SCORED, vs. Pac-10 Schools: ARIZ: 112 CAL: 100 ORE: 94 OSU: 93 STAN: 109 UCLA: 94 (1997-98) USC: 101 WASH: 121 WSU: 95
MOST POINTS ALLOWED, vs. Pac-10 Schools: ARIZ: 127 (1997-98) CAL: 97 ORE: 94 OSU: 108 STAN: 96 UCLA: 107 USC: 117 (1997-98) WASH: 96 WSU: 103
LONGEST WINNING STREAK, vs. Pac-10 Schools: ARIZ: 15 CAL: 7 ORE: 8 OSU: 4 STAN: 9 UCLA: 3 USC: 4 WASH: 14 WSU: 5
LONGEST LOSING STREAK, vs. Pac-10 Schools: ARIZ: 17 CAL: 5 ORE: 5 OSU: 9 STAN: 4 UCL: 19 (current) USC: 5 WASH: 7 WSU: 5