(Links, quotes, stories and all kinds of information about @SunDevilHoops 2018-19 season is below)
Tuesday, Nov. 6: Cal State Fullerton
Friday, Nov. 9: MGM Grand Main Event Game at ASU (opponent TBD)
Monday, Nov. 12: Long Beach State (MGM Grand Main Event Game at ASU)
Friday, Nov. 16: at San Francisco
Monday, Nov. 19: ASU vs. Mississippi State at T-Mobile Arena (MGM Grand Main Event)
Wednesday, Nov. 21: ASU vs. St. Mary's/Utah State at T-Mobile Arena (MGM Grand Main Event)
Wednesday, Nov. 28: Nebraska-Omaha
Saturday, Dec. 1: TBD
Friday, Dec. 7: vs. Nevada at STAPLES Center
Saturday, Dec. 15: at Georgia
Monday, Dec. 17: at Vanderbilt
Saturday, Dec. 22: Kansas
Saturday, Dec. 29: Princeton
2018-19 @SUNDEVILHOOPS PAC-12 PAIRINGS
Jan. 2-6: Colorado/Utah
Jan. 9-13: at California/Stanford
Jan. 16-20: Oregon/Oregon State
Jan. 23-27: at UCLA/USC
Jan. 30-Feb. 3: Arizona
Feb. 6-10: Washington State/Washington
Feb. 13-17: at Utah/Colorado
Feb. 20-24: Stanford/California
Feb. 27-Mar. 3: at Oregon State/Oregon
Mar. 6-9: at Arizona
ON LAST SEASON...
"I just think that's kind of the standard. We set the tone, what we want to do, how we want to compete year in, year out, put ourselves in a position to play in the postseason, play in the NCAA Tournament. I think the experience of that was very valuable. Starting again to set the tone and then for younger guys in the program to gain that experience hopefully will pay dividends. Now we have a new team, a new crop of guys coming in and they saw what happened last year. Now that's the challenge, to stay hungry, to stay motivated, to want to break new ground and do a better job in other areas of the season that we need to address and improve as we move forward."
"I looked at it like this was going to be the year. Before last season, I had a pretty good suspicion that we would exceed expectations from maybe what people thought last year. But deep down, I thought this was the year that, in terms of having size on the frontcourt and having a high-level recruiting class, it's been (ranked) anywhere from No. 7 to 10 in a lot of publications, where our recruiting class is shaking out for 2018. But then you add Rob Edwards and Zylan Cheatham to that class and it made it a lot stronger. We lose three guys that were critical to what we did, very key players to what we're building here with Tra (Holder), Shannon (Evans II) and Kodi (Justice) but we're replacing them with six guys that I think are very capable. I'm going to take this whole summer to spend a lot of time looking at the team and evaluating the team. I don't have one set way that I force my players to play. It's determined by your roster and what that looks like and the makeup and how everyone mixes and we'll come up with the best way we need to play this season. I think it's more about the players. It's about getting better, it's getting in the gym. We started workouts last week and the high school guys are starting to filter in now as they finish up academically and we start summer session. It gives me great opportunity to get a feel for the new guys on the floor and working with them and then watching the whole thing get put together. As much as I'll be teaching and coaching, I'll be evaluating and trying to learn from the guys as much as I can."
"I love it. It's always one of the highlights for me. I work with my staff on that. The assistant coaches have input and feedback and Dave Cohen works with us, certainly spends a lot of time on scheduling as well. We're very close to wrapping it up. We're still one game short right now, we're working on that. Again, it's very challenging to play three true road games versus two SEC opponents and then to have a neutral site game against a projected top 10 team in Nevada and then you have Kansas coming here. It's a lot of exciting things for sure.
"Last year we had such a strong start and then we're right on the road for a majority of the games to start league play and I felt like we were fighting an uphill battle and never could gain the same type of momentum we had early in the year. We've got to do a better job of that and that's on my radar certainly. We've got to close games better. We found a way to lose some very tight games, overtime games. Our record could have been very different if we had done a better job in those situations.
"If there isn't, I'll try to create it and make sure it's there. You've got to stay very motivated, very hungry. I have a ton of respect for the conference, for the Pac-12, for college basketball overall and the teams we are going to compete against. If we're not hungry and getting better as a program and pushing to advance ourselves, then someone is going to be ready to knock us down. I just think last year we were under the radar, especially initially and now we're not anymore. I noticed teams were ready for us competing in conference just because of how well we did in the non-conference. The secret's out. We have good players, we had a great season last year, we've got to make sure we're ready to do it again.
"I try and get the best players on the floor a lot, as much as possible. As it turned out last year, three of those guys or four of those guys were 6-4 or under when you add Remy (Martin) to the seniors. I think the way our roster is constructed and built this year, we're going to be bigger, even at the guard positions. Luguentz Dort (is) 6-4, 215 (pounds) and Rob Edwards is 6-4, 200 pounds. Those are big guards and then we have really good size at the wing position. Mickey Mitchell, Kimani Lawrence, Zylan Cheatham (who) has been outstanding in the offseason so far. I love what I'm seeing from him. So, we're just going to have more options, more depth in the frontcourt.
LAST YEAR'S SUCCESS
"I think it's more of my motivation will be, 'Alright. This is what we did last year. What are you guys going to do to make your own stamp on our program?' The target is, 'Hey, we won 20 games and went to the tournament and had a great non-conference. What's this team going to do to surpass that?' I'm not as concerned necessarily what other programs are doing or what they think of us but, what are we doing to continue to advance what we're doing here?
TALKING ABOUT REMY MARTIN
"Remy, he gained my trust right away last year. Didn't play like a freshman. He's ready for it. He's been working hard. We've only had a short time with him this week but it looked like he hadn't missed a beat. I think he knows. It's pretty clear when you lose three guys who are very important at his position. We have some talented guys in the backcourt but Remy is a guy that I know is going to run the team and do a great job."
TALKING ABOUT MICKEY MITCHELL
"Mickey really showed glimpses of what he could do. Just his tenacity, how tough he played. He fought through a lot of injury late in the year which we didn't talk a lot about as the season ended. Just want to get him injury free but he's a great passer and with our team this year, I could see him in scenarios where he's some point forward, initiating offense because of his ability to pass. Like any player that's has been here a year, you just expect them to keep taking steps and getting better as Tra Holder did and Kodi Justice and Shannon Evans, all those guys throughout the course of their career did that. I would suspect, Mickey's got a great work ethic and I'm sure he's going to continue to make advancements."
VERSATILITY OF THIS YEAR'S ROSTER
"When I first started the four-guard thing, I hadn't done it so I was kind of nervous about how it would all work out. I had played multi guards at Buffalo but never four. So, I learned how to adapt and play that way. It's not necessarily even how I played my second year at Buffalo when we had a more traditional frontcourt with two guards and we would throw the ball inside and we had balance on offense. That's what I was used to doing as far as a coach. I think this year's roster just gives me a ton of options to play, a lot of different ways. I can see scenarios where there's five guys out there who are 6-7 or bigger, which I've never had here."
ON THE FRESHMEN
"We want them to be confident, to come in and make their mark and guys like Taeshon Cherry already made a great impression on me in workouts this week. He doesn't look like a freshman in how he plays, how he moves, his skill level. He's not intimidated. It's a difference from when I played. A lot of freshmen now that are highly regarded like Taeshon or Luguentz that have played against the top competition and have shown they can compete at the highest level against those types of players. They're not going to be intimidated coming into college. But, it's just getting everyone to buy into the team and to talk about role identification as you start to figure out how everything is going to come together. That's the process throughout the whole summer.
ON FIVE-STAR RECRUITS
"We just want to coach well and do things that make sense, that the guys feel like they're getting better and improving as players and developing and focusing on staying in the moment. I think guys maybe get hung up with, 'What am I going to be doing next year? Am I going to be able to put my name in the draft?' Just trying to manage expectations and keep guys focused on day-by-day improving in workouts and training and not taking too much into the future.
ON HAVING A 7-0 IN THE LINEUP
"I mentioned with Uros, we're excited about him. There aren't too many guys that have his skill set that are 7-feet (tall) and can move and that's the difference for me. I'm not the type of coach that would necessarily love a plodding 7-footer. He's got great footwork and can change ends, he's mobile. He fits into how we like to play. But there's not a ton of pressure on him because we have experienced frontcourt guys and depth in the frontcourt. He's going to progress at his pace. I'll have a better feel for him as I start watching him this summer but he's got a great upside."
ON LAST SEASON
"It was a major success for me. I think we really exceeded a lot of expectations early and just built a whole new set. I think the greatest proof that it was a success is just being in the community and seeing people and, whether it's at the gym where I work out in the morning or people that are enthusiastic about Arizona State basketball and they are now following our recruiting and seeing who we're bringing in. Guys are stopping me and talking about the guys that are coming into the program so I just take a lot of pride in that and knowing there is a buzz, there is an enthusiasm about what we're doing. There are steps that you take. It's rare that you make a from nowhere to Final Four type move. So, for us as a program, to get in the tournament, get a taste of that experience, that's all you want. You want to give yourself a chance to get there. From there you've got to make the most of it.
I think about the Syracuse game a lot. The numbers "49-42" jump into my head a lot. During that game, just the way the game was played and how much time was left, low scoring, I felt great about where we were. We didn't get the win there. I just would have loved to see what would have been next. That's always the regret that you feel as a coach when your season ends. But, overall it was a great step in the right direction for us."
ON HAVING A DEEPER ROTATION
"There's going to be a lot of responsibility on my part to manage that. Just figure out what the best combinations are. There's going to be a lot of competition in practice which I think is going to elevate things and make us better. I think that was the biggest thing that changed last year was the practices were so much better. The transfers that were sitting out on our second unit challenged the first unit every day and that put us in a position to play better basketball as the season started. I think we'll have a similar effect this year, just with the depth of talent we have.
ON PRO POTENTIAL FOR THE SENIORS
"I'm excited for our players. Regardless if all of them are drafted or none of them are, I think they're all on track to have great careers as pros. Tra, Shannon and Kodi, I'm excited for them going forward."
ON DEANDRE AYTON
"What he was able to do against us, pretty special. It's hard to knock anything. The one thing I will say is I've watched a lot of film on Doncic over the last two weeks. The guys are unbelievable -- just his skill level, his shot-making, his mind for the game, his basketball instincts. It would make me think but certainly, Ayton is a premier prospect as well."
ANY ADVICE FOR PLAYERS ABOUT TO BE PROS
"Yeah, I think my players -- Tra, Shannon, and Kodi -- they never had the silver spoon. Those guys were always the underdog and they always overachieved. And along the way, they've passed a bunch of guys who were rated ahead of them and what not. They've had great careers and I think teams will realize how competitive those guys are, how good they are off-the-dribble, creating -- I think that's what the NBA has become, a league where you need to beat your man and make a play. All three of those guys can do that. I think they will all have a chance to help an NBA team at a certain point. They're going to fight for it because they did for me every time we played and they've been hungry in working hard, preparing for the next step and they're going to be very successful."
WILL BIGGER GUARDS CHANGE WHAT WE DO?
"I just think that I'm not going to have to talk as much about rebounding as I've talked about the last couple years. Every day I've just had to engrain to compensate for the size was just to get these guys to think about rebounding all the time. Just having more size, guys that can go get t the basketball. I think we're going to be a much better rebounding team. We have the potential to be, by far, the best defensive team that I've coached here, just with the types of athletes we have on that end of the floor."
WHERE CAN ROMELLO WHITE IMPROVE THE MOST?
"Like any guy, there's a series of things you need to address. Romello, we've talked to him about a few things. His face-up game, I'd like to see him face-up a little more, be able to extend his range. He's got a decent shooting touch. He needs to be consistent about developing that. His free throw shooting, it has to improve. And he's just got to take a bigger step. He's going to have more responsibility now that we've got to replace a significant amount of scoring. Like any player that's going from freshman to sophomore year, you just hope that they advance their game and take another step forward. He fought through some stuff, he had a toe that we were managing. Different things that you have going on during the course of the year and it happens for younger players -- you may not necessarily be at the same level that you were at other times, the length of the season gets you, the level of competition definitely has something to do with it. That's a good point and i think he'll be able to do a better job of sustaining what he did early in the season, hopefully throughout the whole season this year."
ON HAVING INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
"We're going to explore every possibility. We've gone transfers, guys sitting out, we've had some international guys. I think it fits our school -- our school is a melting pot, we have kids from all of the world here and it makes sense. And it's not a bad option for a kid to want to come to Arizona State with everything the school has to offer. Luguentz is another guy, Canadian. That's a great country for recruiting talent so we hope to do a great job with Lou and spearhead other guys who will want to come to Arizona State."
LOSING THOSE THREE SENIORS
"That's going to sort itself out through the workouts, through the training. I think we have a good mixture of guys that are coming in with confidence that I think can compete at a high level in college basketball right away. And then we have returning players that again had a chance to be a part of a successful season, a 20-win season, NCAA Tournament. Guys like Zylan Cheatham and Rob Edwards had a lot to do with our success last season even though they didn't play because they pushing our guys in practice every day and they were frequently some of the better players in the gym every time we do workouts. Having those guys in uniform, they're hungry. They've had to sit out and not have an opportunity to play so they're chomping at the bit to play. So that'll all develop as we go. Remy Martin -- people want to follow Remy because he just plays so hard and he's just all over the court and he has great energy. He's a leader in his own way and it'll work itself out throughout the summer."
IS PERIMTER SHOOTING A CONCERN?
"We're not going to be like we were last year. We're not going to have to rely as much on the 3-point line. I do feel like we have guys that can make that shot but we have other guys who can do things that this past year's team couldn't do. So, for what we might give up in some areas, I think we're going to gain in others."
IS THE ROSTER SET?
"Yeah, we have one scholarship open. Most likely we would keep it open -- can't say 100 percent there but that's most likely the situation."
SUN DEVIL 2018-19 TENTATIVE ROSTER
STARTERS GONE
G Tra Holder (18.2 ppg)
G Shannon Evans (16.5 ppg)
G Kodi Justice (12.7 ppg)
STARTERS BACK
#10, F Vitaliy Shibel (6-9, 210, RS Soph., 1.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg)
#23, F Romello White (6-8, 235, RS Soph., 10.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
OTHER RETURNERS
#1, G Remy Martin (6-0, 170, Soph., 9.6 ppg)
#3, F Mickey Mitchell (6-7, 225, Jr., 5.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
#14, SF Kimani Lawrence (6-7, 210, Soph., 3.1 ppg)
#32, F De'Quon Lake (6-10, 225, Sr., 7.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
TRANSFERS ELIGIBLE
#2, G Rob Edwards (6-4, 200, RS Jr.., 16.5 ppg at Cleveland State)
#45, F Zylan Cheatham (6-8, 220, RS Jr., 9.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg at San Diego State)
NEWCOMERS
#0, SG Luguentz Dort (6-5, 220)
#11, SG-SF Elias Valtonen (6-5, 195, Finland)
#34 C Uros Plavsic (7-1, 240, Serbian)
#35, F Taehon Cherry (6-8, 210)
WALKONS
#5 Kyle Feit
#21 Jack Roggin
#24 Jordan Salzman
#25 Grant Fogerty
#31 Trevor Thompson
ON THE UPCOMING ARENA RENOVATIONS
"It's going to be a major plus just to modernize the facility. And, again, we're ecstatic about the commitment Ray Anderson, Dave Cohen, our administration to make that a priority, to get Wells Fargo updated and I know our fans are going to appreciate that as well in addition to the recruiting push that's going to help -- because that's a major thing with kids, just where they're going to play, what it looks like and if it's at the standards your competitors are at. We're in the process of getting there and that's exciting."
WHERE DOES THE ROSTER RANK IN THE PAC-12?
"It's hard to gauge that now and I'll have to look deeper into that. There are teams that have lost some to the NBA this year, and like all of us, we're at the beginning stages of figuring that out now. So, I'm just going to concentrate on what we have coming in and try to figure out what we're doing. And then, as I have a better handle on that, I might branch out and just try to see what everyone else is doing."
Part II with ASU coach Bobby Hurley: For one hour we discussed his life in Arizona. For the next, we discussed his basketball team. https://t.co/TPhTCBepGy
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) July 10, 2018
"The secret is out. We have good players and we had a great season last year, but we've got to make sure we're ready to do it again." https://t.co/jxR0ThXlQO
— azcentral sports (@azcsports) June 21, 2018
@SUNDEVILHOOPS 2018-19 NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULEThank you Sun Devil nation for your incredible support all season long. pic.twitter.com/QRDXdXxgLb
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) March 3, 2018
Tuesday, Nov. 6: Cal State Fullerton
Friday, Nov. 9: MGM Grand Main Event Game at ASU (opponent TBD)
Monday, Nov. 12: Long Beach State (MGM Grand Main Event Game at ASU)
Friday, Nov. 16: at San Francisco
Monday, Nov. 19: ASU vs. Mississippi State at T-Mobile Arena (MGM Grand Main Event)
Wednesday, Nov. 21: ASU vs. St. Mary's/Utah State at T-Mobile Arena (MGM Grand Main Event)
Wednesday, Nov. 28: Nebraska-Omaha
Saturday, Dec. 1: TBD
Friday, Dec. 7: vs. Nevada at STAPLES Center
Saturday, Dec. 15: at Georgia
Monday, Dec. 17: at Vanderbilt
Saturday, Dec. 22: Kansas
Saturday, Dec. 29: Princeton
2018-19 @SUNDEVILHOOPS PAC-12 PAIRINGS
Jan. 2-6: Colorado/Utah
Jan. 9-13: at California/Stanford
Jan. 16-20: Oregon/Oregon State
Jan. 23-27: at UCLA/USC
Jan. 30-Feb. 3: Arizona
Feb. 6-10: Washington State/Washington
Feb. 13-17: at Utah/Colorado
Feb. 20-24: Stanford/California
Feb. 27-Mar. 3: at Oregon State/Oregon
Mar. 6-9: at Arizona
ON LAST SEASON...
"I just think that's kind of the standard. We set the tone, what we want to do, how we want to compete year in, year out, put ourselves in a position to play in the postseason, play in the NCAA Tournament. I think the experience of that was very valuable. Starting again to set the tone and then for younger guys in the program to gain that experience hopefully will pay dividends. Now we have a new team, a new crop of guys coming in and they saw what happened last year. Now that's the challenge, to stay hungry, to stay motivated, to want to break new ground and do a better job in other areas of the season that we need to address and improve as we move forward."
RECRUITING...What's next for @SunDevilHoops after a run to the Tournament & should the #Suns select Ayton or Doncic with the top pick in the #NBADraft — @BobbyHurley11 tells all that and more with @radiojody https://t.co/8yoTXDQYE7
— Fox Sports 910 (@foxsports910) June 21, 2018
"I looked at it like this was going to be the year. Before last season, I had a pretty good suspicion that we would exceed expectations from maybe what people thought last year. But deep down, I thought this was the year that, in terms of having size on the frontcourt and having a high-level recruiting class, it's been (ranked) anywhere from No. 7 to 10 in a lot of publications, where our recruiting class is shaking out for 2018. But then you add Rob Edwards and Zylan Cheatham to that class and it made it a lot stronger. We lose three guys that were critical to what we did, very key players to what we're building here with Tra (Holder), Shannon (Evans II) and Kodi (Justice) but we're replacing them with six guys that I think are very capable. I'm going to take this whole summer to spend a lot of time looking at the team and evaluating the team. I don't have one set way that I force my players to play. It's determined by your roster and what that looks like and the makeup and how everyone mixes and we'll come up with the best way we need to play this season. I think it's more about the players. It's about getting better, it's getting in the gym. We started workouts last week and the high school guys are starting to filter in now as they finish up academically and we start summer session. It gives me great opportunity to get a feel for the new guys on the floor and working with them and then watching the whole thing get put together. As much as I'll be teaching and coaching, I'll be evaluating and trying to learn from the guys as much as I can."
THE UPCOMING SCHEDULEBobby Hurley is very excited about the possibilities on defense for his team next year, from @craigsmorgan:https://t.co/14iyCmSqkM
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) June 21, 2018
"I love it. It's always one of the highlights for me. I work with my staff on that. The assistant coaches have input and feedback and Dave Cohen works with us, certainly spends a lot of time on scheduling as well. We're very close to wrapping it up. We're still one game short right now, we're working on that. Again, it's very challenging to play three true road games versus two SEC opponents and then to have a neutral site game against a projected top 10 team in Nevada and then you have Kansas coming here. It's a lot of exciting things for sure.
"Our scheduling is just part of our DNA now"
— Jack Harris (@Jack_A_Harris) June 28, 2018
A detailed look at how #ASU basketball has beefed up its non-conference scheduling and, in the process, raised its national profilehttps://t.co/99CnQrT1Nf
ON PLAYING IN THE PAC-1225 years ago, @BobbyHurley11 was selected seventh overall in the #NBADraft! pic.twitter.com/6MM75DtagJ
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) June 21, 2018
"Last year we had such a strong start and then we're right on the road for a majority of the games to start league play and I felt like we were fighting an uphill battle and never could gain the same type of momentum we had early in the year. We've got to do a better job of that and that's on my radar certainly. We've got to close games better. We found a way to lose some very tight games, overtime games. Our record could have been very different if we had done a better job in those situations.
DOES TEAM HAVE CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER?Nov. 6 mark it down OPENING NIGHT when we host 2018 Big West Tournament Champion Cal State Fullerton to open the 2018-19 season https://t.co/FhQuSFppx4 @ASU @ASU_Alumni @Pac12Network @SunDevilTix @sundevilclub pic.twitter.com/G1l3tnR5T1
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) June 18, 2018
"If there isn't, I'll try to create it and make sure it's there. You've got to stay very motivated, very hungry. I have a ton of respect for the conference, for the Pac-12, for college basketball overall and the teams we are going to compete against. If we're not hungry and getting better as a program and pushing to advance ourselves, then someone is going to be ready to knock us down. I just think last year we were under the radar, especially initially and now we're not anymore. I noticed teams were ready for us competing in conference just because of how well we did in the non-conference. The secret's out. We have good players, we had a great season last year, we've got to make sure we're ready to do it again.
ABOUT THE SIZE OF TEAM THIS YEARAP summer update from @jmarshallap off last week's media get together. A great end of June reminder of who is back and who sat last year (hello @robedwardss2 and we always struggle to find Zylan's twitter ) https://t.co/tuyhrQQxcD
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) June 26, 2018
"I try and get the best players on the floor a lot, as much as possible. As it turned out last year, three of those guys or four of those guys were 6-4 or under when you add Remy (Martin) to the seniors. I think the way our roster is constructed and built this year, we're going to be bigger, even at the guard positions. Luguentz Dort (is) 6-4, 215 (pounds) and Rob Edwards is 6-4, 200 pounds. Those are big guards and then we have really good size at the wing position. Mickey Mitchell, Kimani Lawrence, Zylan Cheatham (who) has been outstanding in the offseason so far. I love what I'm seeing from him. So, we're just going to have more options, more depth in the frontcourt.
LAST YEAR'S SUCCESS
"I think it's more of my motivation will be, 'Alright. This is what we did last year. What are you guys going to do to make your own stamp on our program?' The target is, 'Hey, we won 20 games and went to the tournament and had a great non-conference. What's this team going to do to surpass that?' I'm not as concerned necessarily what other programs are doing or what they think of us but, what are we doing to continue to advance what we're doing here?
TALKING ABOUT REMY MARTIN
"Remy, he gained my trust right away last year. Didn't play like a freshman. He's ready for it. He's been working hard. We've only had a short time with him this week but it looked like he hadn't missed a beat. I think he knows. It's pretty clear when you lose three guys who are very important at his position. We have some talented guys in the backcourt but Remy is a guy that I know is going to run the team and do a great job."
TALKING ABOUT MICKEY MITCHELL
"Mickey really showed glimpses of what he could do. Just his tenacity, how tough he played. He fought through a lot of injury late in the year which we didn't talk a lot about as the season ended. Just want to get him injury free but he's a great passer and with our team this year, I could see him in scenarios where he's some point forward, initiating offense because of his ability to pass. Like any player that's has been here a year, you just expect them to keep taking steps and getting better as Tra Holder did and Kodi Justice and Shannon Evans, all those guys throughout the course of their career did that. I would suspect, Mickey's got a great work ethic and I'm sure he's going to continue to make advancements."
VERSATILITY OF THIS YEAR'S ROSTER
"When I first started the four-guard thing, I hadn't done it so I was kind of nervous about how it would all work out. I had played multi guards at Buffalo but never four. So, I learned how to adapt and play that way. It's not necessarily even how I played my second year at Buffalo when we had a more traditional frontcourt with two guards and we would throw the ball inside and we had balance on offense. That's what I was used to doing as far as a coach. I think this year's roster just gives me a ton of options to play, a lot of different ways. I can see scenarios where there's five guys out there who are 6-7 or bigger, which I've never had here."
ON THE FRESHMEN
"We want them to be confident, to come in and make their mark and guys like Taeshon Cherry already made a great impression on me in workouts this week. He doesn't look like a freshman in how he plays, how he moves, his skill level. He's not intimidated. It's a difference from when I played. A lot of freshmen now that are highly regarded like Taeshon or Luguentz that have played against the top competition and have shown they can compete at the highest level against those types of players. They're not going to be intimidated coming into college. But, it's just getting everyone to buy into the team and to talk about role identification as you start to figure out how everything is going to come together. That's the process throughout the whole summer.
ON FIVE-STAR RECRUITS
"We just want to coach well and do things that make sense, that the guys feel like they're getting better and improving as players and developing and focusing on staying in the moment. I think guys maybe get hung up with, 'What am I going to be doing next year? Am I going to be able to put my name in the draft?' Just trying to manage expectations and keep guys focused on day-by-day improving in workouts and training and not taking too much into the future.
ON HAVING A 7-0 IN THE LINEUP
"I mentioned with Uros, we're excited about him. There aren't too many guys that have his skill set that are 7-feet (tall) and can move and that's the difference for me. I'm not the type of coach that would necessarily love a plodding 7-footer. He's got great footwork and can change ends, he's mobile. He fits into how we like to play. But there's not a ton of pressure on him because we have experienced frontcourt guys and depth in the frontcourt. He's going to progress at his pace. I'll have a better feel for him as I start watching him this summer but he's got a great upside."
ON LAST SEASON
"It was a major success for me. I think we really exceeded a lot of expectations early and just built a whole new set. I think the greatest proof that it was a success is just being in the community and seeing people and, whether it's at the gym where I work out in the morning or people that are enthusiastic about Arizona State basketball and they are now following our recruiting and seeing who we're bringing in. Guys are stopping me and talking about the guys that are coming into the program so I just take a lot of pride in that and knowing there is a buzz, there is an enthusiasm about what we're doing. There are steps that you take. It's rare that you make a from nowhere to Final Four type move. So, for us as a program, to get in the tournament, get a taste of that experience, that's all you want. You want to give yourself a chance to get there. From there you've got to make the most of it.
I think about the Syracuse game a lot. The numbers "49-42" jump into my head a lot. During that game, just the way the game was played and how much time was left, low scoring, I felt great about where we were. We didn't get the win there. I just would have loved to see what would have been next. That's always the regret that you feel as a coach when your season ends. But, overall it was a great step in the right direction for us."
ON HAVING A DEEPER ROTATION
"There's going to be a lot of responsibility on my part to manage that. Just figure out what the best combinations are. There's going to be a lot of competition in practice which I think is going to elevate things and make us better. I think that was the biggest thing that changed last year was the practices were so much better. The transfers that were sitting out on our second unit challenged the first unit every day and that put us in a position to play better basketball as the season started. I think we'll have a similar effect this year, just with the depth of talent we have.
ON PRO POTENTIAL FOR THE SENIORS
"I'm excited for our players. Regardless if all of them are drafted or none of them are, I think they're all on track to have great careers as pros. Tra, Shannon and Kodi, I'm excited for them going forward."
ON DEANDRE AYTON
"What he was able to do against us, pretty special. It's hard to knock anything. The one thing I will say is I've watched a lot of film on Doncic over the last two weeks. The guys are unbelievable -- just his skill level, his shot-making, his mind for the game, his basketball instincts. It would make me think but certainly, Ayton is a premier prospect as well."
ANY ADVICE FOR PLAYERS ABOUT TO BE PROS
"Yeah, I think my players -- Tra, Shannon, and Kodi -- they never had the silver spoon. Those guys were always the underdog and they always overachieved. And along the way, they've passed a bunch of guys who were rated ahead of them and what not. They've had great careers and I think teams will realize how competitive those guys are, how good they are off-the-dribble, creating -- I think that's what the NBA has become, a league where you need to beat your man and make a play. All three of those guys can do that. I think they will all have a chance to help an NBA team at a certain point. They're going to fight for it because they did for me every time we played and they've been hungry in working hard, preparing for the next step and they're going to be very successful."
WILL BIGGER GUARDS CHANGE WHAT WE DO?
"I just think that I'm not going to have to talk as much about rebounding as I've talked about the last couple years. Every day I've just had to engrain to compensate for the size was just to get these guys to think about rebounding all the time. Just having more size, guys that can go get t the basketball. I think we're going to be a much better rebounding team. We have the potential to be, by far, the best defensive team that I've coached here, just with the types of athletes we have on that end of the floor."
WHERE CAN ROMELLO WHITE IMPROVE THE MOST?
"Like any guy, there's a series of things you need to address. Romello, we've talked to him about a few things. His face-up game, I'd like to see him face-up a little more, be able to extend his range. He's got a decent shooting touch. He needs to be consistent about developing that. His free throw shooting, it has to improve. And he's just got to take a bigger step. He's going to have more responsibility now that we've got to replace a significant amount of scoring. Like any player that's going from freshman to sophomore year, you just hope that they advance their game and take another step forward. He fought through some stuff, he had a toe that we were managing. Different things that you have going on during the course of the year and it happens for younger players -- you may not necessarily be at the same level that you were at other times, the length of the season gets you, the level of competition definitely has something to do with it. That's a good point and i think he'll be able to do a better job of sustaining what he did early in the season, hopefully throughout the whole season this year."
ON HAVING INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
"We're going to explore every possibility. We've gone transfers, guys sitting out, we've had some international guys. I think it fits our school -- our school is a melting pot, we have kids from all of the world here and it makes sense. And it's not a bad option for a kid to want to come to Arizona State with everything the school has to offer. Luguentz is another guy, Canadian. That's a great country for recruiting talent so we hope to do a great job with Lou and spearhead other guys who will want to come to Arizona State."
LOSING THOSE THREE SENIORS
"That's going to sort itself out through the workouts, through the training. I think we have a good mixture of guys that are coming in with confidence that I think can compete at a high level in college basketball right away. And then we have returning players that again had a chance to be a part of a successful season, a 20-win season, NCAA Tournament. Guys like Zylan Cheatham and Rob Edwards had a lot to do with our success last season even though they didn't play because they pushing our guys in practice every day and they were frequently some of the better players in the gym every time we do workouts. Having those guys in uniform, they're hungry. They've had to sit out and not have an opportunity to play so they're chomping at the bit to play. So that'll all develop as we go. Remy Martin -- people want to follow Remy because he just plays so hard and he's just all over the court and he has great energy. He's a leader in his own way and it'll work itself out throughout the summer."
IS PERIMTER SHOOTING A CONCERN?
"We're not going to be like we were last year. We're not going to have to rely as much on the 3-point line. I do feel like we have guys that can make that shot but we have other guys who can do things that this past year's team couldn't do. So, for what we might give up in some areas, I think we're going to gain in others."
IS THE ROSTER SET?
"Yeah, we have one scholarship open. Most likely we would keep it open -- can't say 100 percent there but that's most likely the situation."
SUN DEVIL 2018-19 TENTATIVE ROSTER
STARTERS GONE
G Tra Holder (18.2 ppg)
G Shannon Evans (16.5 ppg)
G Kodi Justice (12.7 ppg)
STARTERS BACK
#10, F Vitaliy Shibel (6-9, 210, RS Soph., 1.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg)
#23, F Romello White (6-8, 235, RS Soph., 10.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
OTHER RETURNERS
#1, G Remy Martin (6-0, 170, Soph., 9.6 ppg)
#3, F Mickey Mitchell (6-7, 225, Jr., 5.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
#14, SF Kimani Lawrence (6-7, 210, Soph., 3.1 ppg)
#32, F De'Quon Lake (6-10, 225, Sr., 7.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
TRANSFERS ELIGIBLE
#2, G Rob Edwards (6-4, 200, RS Jr.., 16.5 ppg at Cleveland State)
#45, F Zylan Cheatham (6-8, 220, RS Jr., 9.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg at San Diego State)
NEWCOMERS
#0, SG Luguentz Dort (6-5, 220)
#11, SG-SF Elias Valtonen (6-5, 195, Finland)
#34 C Uros Plavsic (7-1, 240, Serbian)
#35, F Taehon Cherry (6-8, 210)
WALKONS
#5 Kyle Feit
#21 Jack Roggin
#24 Jordan Salzman
#25 Grant Fogerty
#31 Trevor Thompson
ON THE UPCOMING ARENA RENOVATIONS
"It's going to be a major plus just to modernize the facility. And, again, we're ecstatic about the commitment Ray Anderson, Dave Cohen, our administration to make that a priority, to get Wells Fargo updated and I know our fans are going to appreciate that as well in addition to the recruiting push that's going to help -- because that's a major thing with kids, just where they're going to play, what it looks like and if it's at the standards your competitors are at. We're in the process of getting there and that's exciting."
WHERE DOES THE ROSTER RANK IN THE PAC-12?
"It's hard to gauge that now and I'll have to look deeper into that. There are teams that have lost some to the NBA this year, and like all of us, we're at the beginning stages of figuring that out now. So, I'm just going to concentrate on what we have coming in and try to figure out what we're doing. And then, as I have a better handle on that, I might branch out and just try to see what everyone else is doing."
'Twas the eve of the #NBADraft
— Tresa Tudrick (@tresatudrick) June 21, 2018
when all thro' the court,
not a player was sleeping,
not even @SunDevilHoops @BobbyHurley11.
The draft boards were set,
the #Suns eager for new,
dreaming #DeandreAyton could be there soon...or not?
?????? #12Sports pic.twitter.com/n1kHSAxkPD