April 27, 2001
The Arizona State men's basketball team begins practice on Tuesday, May 1, for its 11-day Australian Tour May 15-26. The Sun Devils are allowed 10 practices and all practices are open to the public. The first five practices are scheduled for Wells Fargo Arena while the remainder are scheduled for the Student Recreation Center due to commencement activities taking place next week. Anyone interested in attending practice is encouraged to call the basketball offices at 480-965-3261 to confirm practice times and sites.
Day Date Time Site Tuesday May 1 2-4 p.m. Wells Fargo Arena Wednesday May 2 2-4 p.m. Wells Fargo Arena Thursday May 3 2-4 p.m. Wells Fargo Arena Saturday May 5 2-4 p.m. Wells Fargo Arena Sunday May 6 1-3 p.m. Wells Fargo Arena Wednesday May 9 noon-2 p.m. Student Recreation Center Thursday May10 1-3 p.m. Student Recreation Center Friday May 11 1-3 p.m. Student Recreation Center Saturday May 12 9-11 a.m. Student Recreation Center Monday May 14 9-11 a.m. Student Recreation Center
"We are extremely excited to take this group to Australia and get moving in the right direction for next season," says Rob Evans, who will enter his fourth season at Arizona State next year. "We planned this trip for this trip when we arrived because we knew the majority of our players would have two years of experience. It will also allow Tanner Shell and Justin Allen some extra practice as we get those two ready for next year. I know the value of this trip, as it helped our Ole Miss program incredibly in 1997."
Shell, who averaged 9.1 points per game in Pac-10 games in 1999-2000, including a 24-point effort at USC, broke his left hand in practice in late December and missed the remainder of the year. Shell had played in just the season opener due to a bulging disc in his back but was practicing for ASU's holiday tournament and was expected to return to the rotation. He also had six double-figure scoring games and averaged seven points per game in his freshman year and his 9.1 points per game in Pac-10 play was third on the team. Also, sophomore Justin Allen redshirted after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in late September. Allen's treatments have been going well and he will begin practicing next week.
Evans will miss two of the practices on Saturday, May 5, and on Sunday, May 6, as he is the commencement speaker at Lubbock Christian University on May 5. Evans graduated from Lubbock Christian in 1966 and was the school's first All-American.
Evans took his Ole Miss squad to Australia in the spring of 1997 following his first SEC West title and the following year the Rebels repeated. The Arizona State women's team, which won the Pac-10 title this past season, went to Australia in the spring of 1999.
The Rebel squad went 5-0 on that trip and the following season (1997-98) posted a 22-7 record, which was the best record in Ole Miss history at that time. That team was ranked in the top 25 most of the season and finished ranked #13 in the AP poll and #20 in the coaches poll. Ansu Sesay, a forward on that squad, was a finalist for national player of the year honors and was the SEC player of the year.
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