The Arizona State Sun Devil men's hoops team returns three starters from last year's squad and welcomes six newcomers as it begins its 2017-18 season on Friday, Nov. 10, against Idaho State at 8 p.m. on Pac-12 Arizona. ASU under third-year head coach Bobby Hurley will be led by seniors Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice. Thad Anderson and ASU career-leading scorer Eddie House have the call for Pac-12 Arizona.
TOP SCORERS: ASU has two of the top five scorers in the Pac-12 returning, as Tra Holder (16.2 ppg) and Shannon Evans II (15.0) averaged more than 31 points. 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
NOT MANY CAN SAY THIS: ASU's 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.
MOST COMBINED CAREER POINTS BY TWO TEAMMATES ENTERING 2017-18
2,707/St. Bonaventure: Jaylen Adams (1,377) and Matt Mobley (1,330)
2,701/Rhode Island: E.C. Matthews (1,519) and Jared Terrell (1,182)
2,639/Xavier: Trevon Bluiett (1,585) and J.P. Macura (1,054)
2,463/Arizona State: Shannon Evans II (1,248) and Tra Holder (1,215)
STRENGTH NOTES: ASU's 78.6 points per game last year was its best since the 1997-98 squad averaged 84.5...ASU ranked third in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting (.749)...ASU averaged just 10.4 turnovers (first in the league and T-11th in the nation) and 9.9 three-pointers made, second in the Pac-12...Tra Holder led the league in free throws made and attempted (152-of-197/.772)...ASU likes to shoot the three as its 328 made last year was third-most in league history.
PREDICTIONS: ASU was picked sixth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll announced on Oct. 12, its top preseasonranking since being picked fourth in the Pac-10 prior to the 2010-11 season. ASU has been picked 11th (2016-17 and 2012-13), eighth (2015-16), ninth (2014-15 and 2011-12), seventh (2013-14) in seven previous Pac-12 polls. Arizona was picked to finish first, followed by USC, UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, ASU, Utah, Oregon State, Colorado, Washington, California and Washington State.
LENGTH: ASU has some solid wing spans and length this year. De'Quon Lake has a 7-2 wingspan, while Vitaliy Shibel and Romello White are at 7-0. Freshman Kimani Lawrence stretched to 6-11 on his 6-7 frame. Next year the Sun Devils add Carlton Bragg's 7-0 and Zylan Cheatham's 7-1 wingspan to the roster.
MEET THE SIX: ASU will have six newcomers fill roles in 2017-18, led by three 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 player (No. 77 by ESPN, No. 81 by Scout) in the 2016 signing class. Texan Mickey Mitchell 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. Junior college transfer De'Quon Lake has a 6-10 frame and a 7-2 wing span. ESPN 2017 top-100 players Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School/Providence, RI) is a 6-7 swingman with 6-11 wingspan who is No. 54, while Remy Martin (Sierra Canyon/Chatsworth, Calif.) is a 6-0 lead guard and is No. 82 in the rankings.
NOV. 10 VS. IDAHO STATE (8 P.M./PAC-12 AZ): ASU leads the series 4-1, with the last game an 88-60 Sun Devil win on Nov. 13, 2013. Want a historical note? ASU's first NCAA Tournament game was against Idaho State, as ASU fell to Idaho State 72-68 the 1958 Tournament in Berkeley.
ASU VS. IDAHO STATE (ASU LEADS 4-1)
ASU 88, Idaho State 60 (Nov. 13, 2013)
#20 ASU 90, Idaho State 55 (Dec. 23, 2008)
ASU 69, Idaho State 59 (Dec. 3, 1991)
#19 ASU 82, Idaho State 81 (Dec. 13, 1975 in Tucson)
Idaho State 72, ASU 68 (1958 NCAA Tournament in Berkeley)
NOV. 14 VS. SAN DIEGO STATE (7 P.M./PAC-12 NETWORK): ASU leads the series 17-10, with the last Tempe meeting a 55-52 Sun Devil on Dec. 19, 2009. Last year at SDSU on Dec. 10 ASU fell behind 14-4 and was down 32-25 at the half but came back behind 10 three-pointers and 16-of-18 free throws to win at always tough Viejas Arena, where 2016 MWC regular season champion SDSU was 49-5 in its previous 54. Tra Holder had 17 points. SDSU enters 2017-18 having won an average of 25 games the last 12 seasons (including seven NCAA Tournament appearances) and has won the Mountain West Championship regular season title three of the past four years.
LAST YEAR QUICKLY: ASU zig-zagged across North America three times (Orlando, Bahamas and New York City) and got road wins at San Diego State, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington...ASU swept Washington and won all three games against Stanford...five players averaged at least 9.0 ppg. and its starting five averaged at least 33 minutes in Pac-12 play.
ABOUT THE FRESHMEN: From one coast to the other one, Bobby Hurley's staff signed a pair of top-100 players last fall, as 6-7 swingman Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H.) and 6-1 guard Remy Martin of Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon joined the program this summer. A four-star signee according to Scout, Martin averaged 14.5 points as a junior. Lawrence, a four-star small forward from The New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H., is the nation's 54th overall prospect according to ESPN.
SCOUT.COM SUN DEVIL TOP-100 RECRUITS ON ROSTER
54. Kimani Lawrence, 2017
81. Romello White, 2016
98. Remy Martin, 2017
100. Tra Holder, 2014
SHANNON FTS: Shannon Evans II finished tied for second in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage (100-of-120/.833), just .002 off the leader. Two Sun Devils have led the Pac-12, as Chris Beasley shot .875 (112-of-128) in 1983-84 and Alex Austin made 69-of-80 (.863) in 1988-89.
TRA NUMBERS: Junior Tra Holder moved past the 1,000-point mark at UCLA on Jan. 19 as he became the 36th member of the Sun Devil 1,000-point club.
SUN DEVIL CAREER POINTS
1. Eddie House, 1996-2000/2,044
15. James Harden, 2007-09/1,309
22. Dennis Dairman, 1962-65/1,220
23. Tra Holder, 2015-present/1,215
TRA'S YEAR-BY-YEAR IMPROVEMENTS
SEASON: FG% / FT% / PPG
2014-15: .317 / .708 / 7.0
2015-16: .387 / .727 / 14.2
2016-17: .433 / .772 / 16.2
FREE THROWS: The Sun Devils made free throws at a rate that was third-best in school history (489-of-653/.749) last year. ASU shot .756 in 1977-78 and .754 in 1954-55 for its best seasons...ASU went 12-of-12 in the second half of tight win at San Diego State on Dec. 10 and was 16-of-18 for the game...Tra Holder is 368-of-497 (.740) from the charity stripe in his 95 games...Shannon Evans II made his first 20 free throws to start the season and is 280-of-347 (.807) in his career.
HE CAN PLAY: Transfer Shannon Evans II arrived at ASU after having spent two seasons under Coach Hurley at Buffalo. As a sophomore in 2014-15 he averaged 15.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists and led the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament as he earned second-team All-MAC honors. As a freshman, he averaged 8.5 points and 3.3 assists per game and was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team.
SHANNON EVANS II 20-POINT SCORING GAMES (18/9 AT ASU)
33 vs. Cornell (1/3/15)
28 at #13 Oregon (2/2/17)
28 vs. UNLV (12/3/16)
25 vs. Washington (1/25/17)
25 at Ball State (2/4/15)
24 at UT-Arlington (11/18/14)
23 vs. Central Arkansas (12/22/16)
23 at Western Michigan (1/10/15)
23 at Grand Canyon (11/25/14)
21 at Washington State (2/18/17)
21 at Oregon State (2/4/17)
21 vs. Utah (1/7/17)
21 vs. Tulane (11/18/16)
21 at Kent State (2/28/15)
21 at St. Bonaventure (12/3/14)
20 vs. Niagara (12/19/14)
20 vs. Manhattan (12/21/13)
20 vs. Cal Poly (11/13/16)
QUICK QUESTIONS WITH SHANNON EVANS
Most upset on the court: Losing the NCAA tournament
Happiest on the court: Winning the MAC championship
Past sporting event to go back and watch: 1991 Duke vs UNLV
Past Sun Devil to go watch compete: Pat Tillman
JUSTICE SERVED: Kodi Justice has made 140 three pointers in 83 career games. He suffered a fractured navicular bone in his left foot on Jan. 25, 2015 (freshman year) and missed the remainder of that season, but bounced back with a solid sophomore season. His injury happened the game following a season-high 16 points at California, so he was just starting to get in the groove, and then adapted to a new coaching staff in the summer of 2015 while getting healthy.
FOUR QUESTIONS WITH KODI JUSTICE
You can pick the brain of any coach, who is it? John Wooden
You can go watch a past sporting event live...which one? Rumble in the Jungle
Past Sun Devil (any sport) you wish you could have watched compete: Pat Tillman
Biggest challenge in my life: Being dyslexic
@SunDevilHoops Gets It Going Friday At 8 p.m. Against Idaho State
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