Early in August the men's basketball team will depart for a trip to Rome and Barcelona. The squad gets 10 days of practice prior, but almost every guy is on campus anyways at this time now getting in great workouts and getting ahead in the classroom. Coach Hurley is fired up as the calendar heads to July.
So who is on the roster? How many letterman return? How many seniors? Below is a breakdown of the 2017-18 Sun Devil roster with a few random notes and numbers. ASU will welcome many newcomers to a team that was one of the best free throws shooting squads in school history (.749) last season as well as the best scoring Sun Devil squad in 20 seasons (78.6 ppg.).
WHO WERE THOSE THREE GUYS ON THE BENCH? ASU is expected to have several newcomers fill roles in 2017-18, led by three Sun Devils who were in the program last year. Romello White is a 6-8 forward from Suwanee, Ga., who practiced last season as an academic redshirt and was a top-100 players (No. 77 by ESPN, No. 81 by Scout) in the 2016 signing class. Mickey Mitchell, out of Texas, is a skilled 6-7 sophomore who started seven games and played in 23 for Ohio State in 2015-16, came to ASU in December of 2016 and will be eligible this December, while 6-9 redshirt freshman Vitaliy Shibel has a great southpaw shooting stroke but missed last year with an ACL injury.
TOP SCORERS COMING BACK: ASU has two of the top five scorers in the Pac-12 returning next year, as Tra Holder (16.2 ppg) and Shannon Evans (15.0) averaged more than 31 points per game. Only Reid Travis (Stanford), Allonzo Trier (Arizona) and Stephan Thompson (Oregon State) averaged more than Tra and Shannon last year in overall games.
PAC-12 TOP RETURNING SCORERS IN 2017-18
17.4-Reid Travis, Stanford
17.2-Allonzo Trier, Arizona
16.3-Stephen Thompson, Oregon State
16.2-Tra Holder, Arizona State
15.0-Shannon Evans II, Arizona State
TWO IN TOP-100: Two of ASU's newcomers in 2017-18 are ESPN top-100 players. Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School/Providence, RI) is a swingman who is No. 54, while Remy Martin (Sierra Canyon/Chatsworth, Calif.) is a 6-0 lead guard and is No. 82 in the rankings.
Before we get into the roster, a thank you to Byron Scott for the kind words he said recently...
2017-18 SUN DEVIL ROSTER
STARTERS RETURNERS (3)
#0, Tra Holder, G, 6-1, 190, Sr. Los Angeles, Calif. (Brentwood School)
--Tra enters his senior with 1,248 Sun Devil points. His ability to get to the free throw line is what sets him apart. He has made 374-of-506 (.739) free throws in his career. The 374 makes is second only to Ike Diogu (671) on the ASU career chart.
#11, Shannon Evans II, G, 6-1, 160, Sr. Suffolk, Va. (Nansemond River/Hargrave Academy)
--The leading returning scorer in the Pac-12 in terms of career points? It is Shannon.
#44, Kodi Justice, G, 6-5, 190, Sr., Mesa, Ariz. (Dobson H.S.)
--Kodi played the power forward for much of last year. He goes back to doing what he does best in his senior year. In his final five games of 2016-17 he averaged 15.6 points, which included a career-high 22 points in the Feb. 26 win over NCAA Tournament-bound USC. He was in double digits in 11 games in 2016-17 and was 17-of-35 (.486) from the three-point stripe and perfect in nine free throw attempts in those final five games. He will enter his senior year of 2017-18 with 83 games played, 140 three-pointers, and 184 assists. He is a career .760 free throw shooter (76-of-100) and .414 three-point shooter (140-of-338).
OTHER LETTERMEN RETURNING (1)
#33, Ramon Vila, F, 6-8, 230, So., Barcelona, Spain (FC Barcelona)
--Ramon was good and got better once he adjusted to living in Tempe from Spain.
REDSHIRTS FROM LAST YEAR ELIGIBLE TO PLAY IN 2017-18 (3)
#3 Mickey Mitchelll, F, 6-7, 210, So., Plano, Texas (Ohio State/West Plano
--Mickey was able to practice with the team last year after arriving at Arizona State in December. He is smart, crafty and passes extremely well and got a lot of great experience in his freshman year at Ohio State.
#10, Vitaliy Shibel, F, 6-9, 210, RFr., Ukraine (Lee Academy)
--Vitaliy hurt his knee and had to sit last year, but he is bigger, stronger and coming along great. The southpaw can flat out shoot it.
#23, Romello White, F, 6-8, 220, RFr., Suwanee, Ga. (Wheeler H.S.)
--You want a rebound? We expect Romello to get it. Read about that and a lot more here.
NEWCOMERS IN 2017-18 (3)
#1, Remy Martin, G, 6-0, 170, Fr., Chatsworth, Calif. (Sierra Canyon H.S.)
--Three seniors guards are on the team, but Remy is a reason why 2018-19 will be strong.
#14, Kimani Lawrence, F, 6-7, 200, Fr., Ashburnham, Mass. (New Hampton School)
--He is long and can run the floor. Initially he was listed at 6-4 in some circles, but he continues to grow.
--He is big and strong and needed to clean up and defend the glass.
TRANSFERS TO SIT IN 2017-18 AND ELIGIBLE IN 2018-19 (3)
Coach Hurley and his staff signed three players who can't play this year but will be ready to go in 2018-19 after practicing all of this season. All of them are on campus already. John Marshall of the Associated Press checked in with Coach Hurley on how it all can work while another site also did the same here.
#2, Rob Edwards, G, 6-4, 200, RS-Jr., Detroit, Mich. (Cleveland State/Cass Tech)
#15, Carlton Bragg, F, 6-9, 220, RS-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio (Kansas/Villa Angela-St. Joseph H.S.)
#31, Zylan Cheatham, F, 6-7, 201, RS-Jr., Phoenix, Ariz. (San Diego State/South Mountain H.S.)
WALKONS
#22, Austin Witherill, G, 6-0, 170, Sr., Gilbert, Ariz. (Highland H.S.)
#25, Grant Fogerty, G, 5-11, 165, So., Scottsdale, Ariz. (Desert Mountain H.S.).
SUN DEVILS IN LAS VEGAS: Arizona State will make its third trip for a preseason tournament to Las Vegas in November of 2017 for the Continental Tire Invitational, as it played at Orleans Arena in Orleans Arena in November of 2012 when it beat Arkansas (83-68 on Nov. 23) and then fell to Creighton 87-73 (Nov. 24). In 2004, it lost to UTEP 66-65 (Nov. 26) but beat Vanderbilt 87-68 (Nov. 27).
ANOTHER TOP-10 OPPONENT (PROBABLY): From 1995-96 through 2014-15, ASU played one top-10 team outside of Pac-12 play in the regular season, when it met No. 7 Duke on Nov. 25, 2009, in Madison Square Garden. This years's game at Kansas has the potential to be the third straight season ASU will play a top-10 non-conference team in the regular season. ASU has played Kentucky the past two seasons and now starts the home-and-home with Kansas this year.
SUN DEVIL REGULAR SEASON NON-CONFERENCE GAMES VS. TOP-10 TEAMS (SINCE JOINING PAC-10)
#1 Kentucky 115, ASU 69 (Nov. 28, 2016 at Bahamas)
@#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 12, 2015)
#7 Duke 64, ASU 53 (Nov. 25, 2009 at Madison Square Garden)
ASU 97, #7 Maryland 90 (November 23, 1994 at Maui Invitational)
@#8 Oklahoma St. 87, ASU 69 (December 2, 1993)
@#9 Kentucky 94, ASU 68 (December 14, 1991)
@#2 Kansas 90, ASU 67 (December 22, 1989)
#10 North Carolina 85, ASU 66 (December 23, 1984 at Tokyo)
#6 Missouri 48, ASU 47 (December 27, 1982 at Honolulu)
SCOUT.COM SUN DEVIL TOP-100 RECRUITS (2002-PRESENT) 23. James Harden, 2007 34. Jahii Carson, 2011 54. Kimani Lawrence, 2017 55. Ike Diogu, 2002 79. Keala King, 2010 81. Romello White, 2016 84. Keith Wooden, 2003 96. Jamelle McMillan, 2007 98. Trent Lockett, 2009 98. Remy Martin, 2017 100. Tra Holder, 2014
So who is on the roster? How many letterman return? How many seniors? Below is a breakdown of the 2017-18 Sun Devil roster with a few random notes and numbers. ASU will welcome many newcomers to a team that was one of the best free throws shooting squads in school history (.749) last season as well as the best scoring Sun Devil squad in 20 seasons (78.6 ppg.).
WHO WERE THOSE THREE GUYS ON THE BENCH? ASU is expected to have several newcomers fill roles in 2017-18, led by three Sun Devils who were in the program last year. Romello White is a 6-8 forward from Suwanee, Ga., who practiced last season as an academic redshirt and was a top-100 players (No. 77 by ESPN, No. 81 by Scout) in the 2016 signing class. Mickey Mitchell, out of Texas, is a skilled 6-7 sophomore who started seven games and played in 23 for Ohio State in 2015-16, came to ASU in December of 2016 and will be eligible this December, while 6-9 redshirt freshman Vitaliy Shibel has a great southpaw shooting stroke but missed last year with an ACL injury.
VIDEO: Our guards & @BobbyHurley11 staff get inside help next year: meet Mickey, Romello & @ShibelVi13 https://t.co/rGMPapeJIA @TheSunDevils pic.twitter.com/y77G4xjxjk
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) March 14, 2017
TOP SCORERS COMING BACK: ASU has two of the top five scorers in the Pac-12 returning next year, as Tra Holder (16.2 ppg) and Shannon Evans (15.0) averaged more than 31 points per game. Only Reid Travis (Stanford), Allonzo Trier (Arizona) and Stephan Thompson (Oregon State) averaged more than Tra and Shannon last year in overall games.
PAC-12 TOP RETURNING SCORERS IN 2017-18
17.4-Reid Travis, Stanford
17.2-Allonzo Trier, Arizona
16.3-Stephen Thompson, Oregon State
16.2-Tra Holder, Arizona State
15.0-Shannon Evans II, Arizona State
TWO IN TOP-100: Two of ASU's newcomers in 2017-18 are ESPN top-100 players. Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School/Providence, RI) is a swingman who is No. 54, while Remy Martin (Sierra Canyon/Chatsworth, Calif.) is a 6-0 lead guard and is No. 82 in the rankings.
Before we get into the roster, a thank you to Byron Scott for the kind words he said recently...
"The process is there. I know they're going to do much better this year." @official_bscott on @SunDevilHoops >> https://t.co/TROFEczfxQ ?????? pic.twitter.com/OAXts1FERK
— Eric Sorenson (@EricSports360AZ) June 7, 2017
2017-18 SUN DEVIL ROSTER
STARTERS RETURNERS (3)
#0, Tra Holder, G, 6-1, 190, Sr. Los Angeles, Calif. (Brentwood School)
--Tra enters his senior with 1,248 Sun Devil points. His ability to get to the free throw line is what sets him apart. He has made 374-of-506 (.739) free throws in his career. The 374 makes is second only to Ike Diogu (671) on the ASU career chart.
SUN DEVIL CAREER FREE THROWS MADE
1. Ike Diogu, 2002-05/671
2. Tra Holder, 2014-present/374
3. James Harden, 2007-09/373
SUN DEVIL CAREER FREE THROWS ATTEMPTED
1. Ike Diogu, 2002-2005/854
2. Tra Holder, 2014-present/506
2. Mario Bennett, 1991-95/506
#11, Shannon Evans II, G, 6-1, 160, Sr. Suffolk, Va. (Nansemond River/Hargrave Academy)
--The leading returning scorer in the Pac-12 in terms of career points? It is Shannon.
NOT MANY CAN SAY THIS: As rosters become complete for 2017-18, Arizona State will have a rare and solid note to start, as its backcourt will have two 1,000-point career scorers. Tra Holder has 1,215 points in 97 Sun Devil games (12.5 ppg.), while Shannon Evans II has 1,248 career points (13.1 ppg.), with 754 of them coming at Buffalo from 2013-15. Combined the duo has made 764 total field goals, 277 three-pointers, 658 free throws and has dropped 2,463 collegiate points in 192 career games.
#44, Kodi Justice, G, 6-5, 190, Sr., Mesa, Ariz. (Dobson H.S.)
--Kodi played the power forward for much of last year. He goes back to doing what he does best in his senior year. In his final five games of 2016-17 he averaged 15.6 points, which included a career-high 22 points in the Feb. 26 win over NCAA Tournament-bound USC. He was in double digits in 11 games in 2016-17 and was 17-of-35 (.486) from the three-point stripe and perfect in nine free throw attempts in those final five games. He will enter his senior year of 2017-18 with 83 games played, 140 three-pointers, and 184 assists. He is a career .760 free throw shooter (76-of-100) and .414 three-point shooter (140-of-338).
OTHER LETTERMEN RETURNING (1)
#33, Ramon Vila, F, 6-8, 230, So., Barcelona, Spain (FC Barcelona)
--Ramon was good and got better once he adjusted to living in Tempe from Spain.
REDSHIRTS FROM LAST YEAR ELIGIBLE TO PLAY IN 2017-18 (3)
#3 Mickey Mitchelll, F, 6-7, 210, So., Plano, Texas (Ohio State/West Plano
--Mickey was able to practice with the team last year after arriving at Arizona State in December. He is smart, crafty and passes extremely well and got a lot of great experience in his freshman year at Ohio State.
#10, Vitaliy Shibel, F, 6-9, 210, RFr., Ukraine (Lee Academy)
--Vitaliy hurt his knee and had to sit last year, but he is bigger, stronger and coming along great. The southpaw can flat out shoot it.
#23, Romello White, F, 6-8, 220, RFr., Suwanee, Ga. (Wheeler H.S.)
--You want a rebound? We expect Romello to get it. Read about that and a lot more here.
NEWCOMERS IN 2017-18 (3)
#1, Remy Martin, G, 6-0, 170, Fr., Chatsworth, Calif. (Sierra Canyon H.S.)
--Three seniors guards are on the team, but Remy is a reason why 2018-19 will be strong.
#14, Kimani Lawrence, F, 6-7, 200, Fr., Ashburnham, Mass. (New Hampton School)
--He is long and can run the floor. Initially he was listed at 6-4 in some circles, but he continues to grow.
35, De'Quon Lake, F, 6-10, 225, Jr., Newport News, Virginia (Iowa Western C.C.)Read all about them https://t.co/o0HekMSG9Y #cantwait https://t.co/z2qeBvFkUf
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 10, 2016
--He is big and strong and needed to clean up and defend the glass.
ASU's 6-10 newcomer @dequonlake has been named an NJCAA All-American led Iowa Western with 13.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game
— DevilsDigest.com (@DevilsDigest) June 5, 2017
TRANSFERS TO SIT IN 2017-18 AND ELIGIBLE IN 2018-19 (3)
Coach Hurley and his staff signed three players who can't play this year but will be ready to go in 2018-19 after practicing all of this season. All of them are on campus already. John Marshall of the Associated Press checked in with Coach Hurley on how it all can work while another site also did the same here.
#2, Rob Edwards, G, 6-4, 200, RS-Jr., Detroit, Mich. (Cleveland State/Cass Tech)
#15, Carlton Bragg, F, 6-9, 220, RS-Jr., Cleveland, Ohio (Kansas/Villa Angela-St. Joseph H.S.)
#31, Zylan Cheatham, F, 6-7, 201, RS-Jr., Phoenix, Ariz. (San Diego State/South Mountain H.S.)
WALKONS
#22, Austin Witherill, G, 6-0, 170, Sr., Gilbert, Ariz. (Highland H.S.)
#25, Grant Fogerty, G, 5-11, 165, So., Scottsdale, Ariz. (Desert Mountain H.S.).
SUN DEVILS IN LAS VEGAS: Arizona State will make its third trip for a preseason tournament to Las Vegas in November of 2017 for the Continental Tire Invitational, as it played at Orleans Arena in Orleans Arena in November of 2012 when it beat Arkansas (83-68 on Nov. 23) and then fell to Creighton 87-73 (Nov. 24). In 2004, it lost to UTEP 66-65 (Nov. 26) but beat Vanderbilt 87-68 (Nov. 27).
Rock Chalk meets #ForksUp ... Home and home with Kansas announced https://t.co/LX7eWMQXDV @TimHealeyASU @jeffmetcalfe @K_Dodd3 @TheSunDevils
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) March 1, 2017
ANOTHER TOP-10 OPPONENT (PROBABLY): From 1995-96 through 2014-15, ASU played one top-10 team outside of Pac-12 play in the regular season, when it met No. 7 Duke on Nov. 25, 2009, in Madison Square Garden. This years's game at Kansas has the potential to be the third straight season ASU will play a top-10 non-conference team in the regular season. ASU has played Kentucky the past two seasons and now starts the home-and-home with Kansas this year.
SUN DEVIL REGULAR SEASON NON-CONFERENCE GAMES VS. TOP-10 TEAMS (SINCE JOINING PAC-10)
#1 Kentucky 115, ASU 69 (Nov. 28, 2016 at Bahamas)
@#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 12, 2015)
#7 Duke 64, ASU 53 (Nov. 25, 2009 at Madison Square Garden)
ASU 97, #7 Maryland 90 (November 23, 1994 at Maui Invitational)
@#8 Oklahoma St. 87, ASU 69 (December 2, 1993)
@#9 Kentucky 94, ASU 68 (December 14, 1991)
@#2 Kansas 90, ASU 67 (December 22, 1989)
#10 North Carolina 85, ASU 66 (December 23, 1984 at Tokyo)
#6 Missouri 48, ASU 47 (December 27, 1982 at Honolulu)
SCOUT.COM SUN DEVIL TOP-100 RECRUITS (2002-PRESENT) 23. James Harden, 2007 34. Jahii Carson, 2011 54. Kimani Lawrence, 2017 55. Ike Diogu, 2002 79. Keala King, 2010 81. Romello White, 2016 84. Keith Wooden, 2003 96. Jamelle McMillan, 2007 98. Trent Lockett, 2009 98. Remy Martin, 2017 100. Tra Holder, 2014