April 26, 2007
Herb Sendek and the men's basketball staff recognized their postseason award winners at the team banquet held Wednesday evening at the Karsten Golf Course.
Sophomore Jeff Pendergraph, who was recognized for his honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors, garnered official team awards for Most Blocks (22), Most Charges Drawn (19), Best Rebounder (9.1 per game), Best Field Goal Percentage (.551), Best Offensive Rebounder (3.93 per game) and Best Defender. Pendergraph earned the Most Deflections Award, an award instituted by Coach Sendek and his staff for various hustle plays such as blocks, steals, defensive deflections, tips from behind and rebounding tips, which keep the play alive. Pendergraph had 234 on the year.
The Etiwanda, Calif., native, earned Pac-10 All-Freshman honors in 2005-2006 and this year was second in the league in rebounding in both Pac-10 (8.9) and overall (9.1) games, and also finished second in field goal percentage (.553 in Pac-10 and .551 overall). He posted eight double-doubles and had 13 in his career. Pendergraph grabbed 19 boards at Oregon (Feb. 8) and vs. Colgate (Dec. 19), the most by a Sun Devil since Mike Batiste had 20 vs. Wagner on Nov. 19, 1997. His 9.1 rebounding mark is the second-best by a Sun Devil in 26 seasons and his 3.93 offensive rebounds in 30 games led the league.
Senior Robby Alridge earned the Ned Wulk Best Teammate Award for the second straight season, as the award honors the legendary Sun Devil coach and ASU Hall of Famer who passed away in November of 2003. Alridge is working on a master's degree after earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in May of 2006. He played in 19 games in his career. Past winners of the Ned Wulk Award are Mike Batiste (1998-99), Brad Nahra (1999-2000 and 2001-002), Chad Prewitt (2000-2001), Kyle Dodd (2002-2003), current teammate Serge Angounou (2003-2004) and Kevin Kruger 2004-2005.
Freshman Jerren Shipp was recognized for having a team-leading 30 steals and was awarded the Best Cutter/Screener Award by Coach Sendek. His 30 minute per game mark is third on the ASU freshmen list, behind only Byron Scott (32.3 in 1979-80) and Ike Diogu (32.2 in 2002-03). He had 23 points in the opening game of the season against Northern Arizona on Nov. 13, the top debut by a Sun Devil freshmen in school history.
Freshmen point guard Derek Glasser was elected the team's Most Improved Player, as he averaged 32.2 minutes in league play, the third-most by a freshmen in ASU's 29-year league history. He was 16-of-32 (.500) from the three-point stripe in the final nine games after starting year 18-of-69 in first 18 contests (.261). He also was recognized for leading the team in assists with 97.
Another freshmen, Christian Polk, earned team free throw shooting honors, as the Glendale, Ariz., native hit 34-of-43 (.791) from the line which led the team and is the sixth-best mark by a freshmen in ASU history. His 29.4 minutes per game is fifth-most by a freshmen in ASU history.
His 64 three-pointers is eighth-best by a freshmen in Pac-10 history and second only to ASU's Ron Riley, who had 66 as a freshmen in 1992-93 and he posted four 20-point games, fourth-best by a freshmen in ASU history.
Serge Angounou was honored for having the team's best three-point shooting percentage at 36.2 percent, as he was 38-of-105 from beyond the arc. Entering this season, Angounou was just 6-of-33 (.182) from three-point stripe.
Senior Allen Morill and junior Antwi Atuahene earned the Sixth Man Awards. Morill came off the bench in 17 games while Atuahene was a reserve in 13 games. Atuahene averaged 26.3 minutes per game this year and has played in 58 games in his career and is averaging 7.0 points per game.
Sendek honored Pendergraph, Angounou, Alridge and Morrill as Scholar Athlete Award winners, as the trio of Angounou (B.A., Spanish), Alridge (B.A., Sociology) and Morill (B.I.S., Theatre and Communications) joined seven other Sun Devil men's basketball players who have earned their degrees in the past three years. Pendergraph is on pace to earn his degree by May of 2008.
The squad notched a 2.88 grade point average in the fall of 2006 and raised its cumulative GPA to 2.83 at that time, its highest in six years.
Donor Recognition Awards were presented to Jim and LeeAnn Clonts and Hal and Nanette Lyons for their efforts and support in traveling to road games during the 2006-2007 seasons.
2006-2007 SUN DEVIL TEAM AWARDS Most Blocked Shots: Jeff Pendergraph (22) Most Steals: Jerren Shipp (30) Most Deflections: Jeff Pendergraph (234) Most Charges Drawn: Jeff Pendergraph (19) Best Rebounder: Jeff Pendergraph (272/9.1) Best Free Throw Percentage: Christian Polk (.791) Best Field Goal Percentage: Jeff Pendergraph (.551) Best Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: Serge Angounou (.362) Best Offensive Rebounder: Jeff Pendergraph (118/3.93) Most Assists: Derek Glasser (97) Best Screen/Cutter: Jerren Shipp Sixth Man Awards: Antwi Atuahene and Allen Morill Best Defender: Jeff Pendergraph Most Improved: Derek Glasser Ned Wulk Best Teammate Award: Robby Alridge
Donor Recognition Awards: Jim and LeeAnn Clonts and Hal and Nanette Lyons
Scholar-Athlete Awards: Robby Alridge, Serge Angounou, Allen Morill, Jeff Pendergraph