ARIZONA STATE 1996-97 HIGHLIGHTS
*Beat California 64-60 on Jan. 4 to notch its seventh straight win over the Golden Bears in the University Activity Center.
*Jeremy Veal earned All-Pac-10 honors, becoming the 13th Sun Devil to earn the honor. The last Sun Devil to accomplish the feat was Mario Bennett in 1994-95. Veal will have a chance to earn the honor twice in his career in 1997-98, something accomplished by just three other Sun Devils: Mario Bennett (1993-94 and 1994-95), Lafayette "Fat" Lever (1980-81 and 1981-82) and Stevin Smith (1992-93 and 1993-94).
*Eddie House made the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team, becoming the seventh Sun Devil to accomplish the feat. Others are: Steve Beck (1983-84), Chris Sandle (1984-85), Jamal Faulkner (1990-91 and also Pac-10 Freshman of the Year), Dwayne Fontana (1990-91), Mario Bennett (1991-92) and Ron Riley (1992-93).
*Participated in the Great Alaska Shootout for the first time in school history. ASU went 1-2 in the Shootout. ASU is 101-57 (.639) in its history in regular-season tournaments, dating back to the 1948-49 season.
*Jeremy Veal finished in the league's top five in both scoring (4th/18.7 ppg) and assists (T5th/4.7), becoming only the fourth Pac-10 player to accomplish the feat since 1983. The others are all NBA stars: Damon Stoudamire (1993-94 and 1994-95), Terrell Brandon (1990-91) and Gary Payton (1988-89 and 1989-90).
*Led the league in turnover margin (+5.2) for the fourth time in the past five years.
*Jeremy Veal's 18.7 points per game ranked him 65th in the nation.
*Eddie House earned honorable mention Freshman All-America honors from Basketball Weekly. House also set the ASU freshman record for steals with 59 and became the first ASU freshman to notch 50 steals (59) and 100 assists (108). House started in 22 games and played in all 30.
*Rodger Farrington ended the season sixth in the nation with 4.2 blocks per game, a new Pac-10 record. Farrington blocked 113 shots in 27 games before missing the final three games of the year due to a hand injury.
*Mike Batiste earned Pac-10 All-Newcomer honors. Batiste joined the team in mid-year and played in 22 games and averaged 12.0 points and 6.7 rebounds. He shot 72.2 percent from the free throw line.
*Jeremy Veal finished in the league's top ten in three-point percentage (3rd/.443) and free throw percentage (10th/.774).
*Scored 122 points vs. Houston Baptist on Dec. 10, the most by a Pac-10 team all season.
*Posted 34 assists vs. Jacksonville on Nov. 22, the most by a Pac-10 team all season.
*Eddie House tied a Great Alaska Shootout Tournament record with seven three-pointers vs. Maine on Nov. 30.
*Rodger Farrington blocked eight shots in three games, matching the school record. Farrington blocked eight shots vs. Jacksonville, Oklahoma State and Houston Baptist.
*Jeremy Veal made 16 and attempted 18 free throws vs. Jackson State on Dec. 20. The 16 free throws made matched a UAC record and tied Ed Gray of Cal for the most free throws made by a Pac-10 player all year. The 18 free throws attempted was the most by a Pac-10 player all year.
*Rodger Farrington ended the season averaging 7.1 boards per game, the sixth-best mark in the league.
*Eddie House and Rodger Farrington each averaged 2.0 steals per game, good enough for the seventh-best mark in the league statistics.
*ASU's 17.8 assists per game tied for the league lead with Stanford.