Pac 12 Preview: Arizona State

Last Season:
This past season ASU was 13-18 and only 5-13 in Pac 12 play.


The Coaching Staff:
After making the NCAAs in 2010-11, Stanford grad Charli Turner Thorne took a year off. Returning last season didn’t go well as the record above indicates. However Charli has made the NCAAs 6 times in her 16 years at ASU and to the post season every year but last season.

Meg Sanders returns for her 10th season and is one of two Associate Head Coaches. Sanders was the Head Coach at Northern Arizona, succeeding Charli, before coming to ASU.

Amanda Levens is the other Associate Head Coach, returning for her 2nd season. Levens was all Pac 10 in the early 2000s at ASU.

Jackie Moore is back for her 2nd season, and 18th as a college women’s basketball coach.


Losses:
Janae Fulcher started every game and the 6-3 post player graduated. Fulcher was ASU’s leading scorer at 11.5 and added 5 rebounds per game.

Micaela Pickens started all but two games at a guard position last year averaging 6.5 points per game and has graduated.

Haley Videckis averaged 21 minutes and almost 7 points per game but did not return.

Jada Blackwell averaged 7 points per game in 16 minutes, playing in 18 games and did not return.


Additions:
Sophie Brunner is a 6-1 forward from Illinois ranked # 285. However she led her school to the State title as a Jr averaging 32 points per game. After her last HS game her jersey was retired.

Kelsey Moos (no relation that I could find), is a 6-0 foot forward from the state of Washington. Moos is the # 39 wing and small school Player of the year her last 3 seasons.

Breanna Burton is a 5-7 point guard and JC transfer from Texas after HS in Los Angeles. Burton averaged 12 points and 1.7 assists, low for a Point.

Quinn Dornstauder is a 6-4 frosh center from Canada. Quinn played on the Canadian 17U team that was 3rd a year ago in the world championships. She was 4th in the tournament in rebounding.

Katie Hempen is a 5-9 guard who transferred from Southern Illinois a year ago and sat out this past season. She has 3 years remaining. Hempen averaged almost 10 points per game and was the frosh player of the year in Southern Illinois league.

Deja Mann is a 5-7 Sr guard who sat out last season with a knee injury after starting 46 start games for the Sun Devils. More on Mann below.


The Schedule:
ASU had an RPI of about 100 last season so playing a team with an RPI of 50 or better makes for a tough game and ASU plays 5 of those types of teams. Miami, North Carolina, Syracuse, Texas Tech and Illinois are the tough games on the schedule. The average PRI of non- conference opponents is 105, about the same as USC. Again thanks to a UCLA fan for this.

The Team:
The return of Deja Mann will help quite a bit as the starting point guard. Two years ago she averaged 9 points and almost 4 assists per game. Mann is a cousin of 1968 400m Olympic Champ Lee Evans.

The other guard should be Promise Amukamara, a 5-8 Jr. Promise averaged 8 points per game last season, 2nd on the season. That’s not many but ASU averaged only 59 points per game as a team. Promise was a Parade All American in High School.

Joy Burke returns as the starting Center. The 6-5 Sr averaged 7 points and 6 rebounds per game.

At forward will be, well my guess, redshirt Soph, 6-0 Eliza Normen. Normen hurt her knee in the Sr season in High School and redshirted as a frosh. Last season she only scored a point per game in 13 minutes average. However she was highly ranked out of High School and I saw her play several games in High School and loved her great vision and athletic ability. She actually re-injured her knee as a frosh, so if completely healthy Normen will be a solid contributor.

I think the 5th starter could be 5-9 redshirt soph transfer Katie Hempen, discussed above.

Behind the first five, or maybe in the first 5 are four returnees and the frosh center 6-4 Quinn Dornstauder.

Arnecia Hawkins is a 5-10 soph guard who averaged 5 points per game and the top returning three point shooter with 26 at 26%.

Adrianne Thomas is a 5-9 Sr who started every game last season and at worse will be the 6th player. Thomas averaged 5 points per game and led the team in assists at 3 per game.

Isidora Pukovic is a 5-11 soph guard who played in almost every game averaging 1 point.

Nisha Barrett is a 6-1 Sr forward who didn’t play much this past season, after transferring from an Arizona JC.

Elisha Davis is a 5-3 soph guard who played every game last season averaging 2.5 points per game. Davis is from Berkeley High School and was the D1 Northern California Player of the Year as a Sr.

Transfer Burton and frosh Moos and Brunner, profiled above, will vie for playing time.


Predictions:
This is not a strong team and playing a strong pre- season. A winning record would be quite an achievement.


2014 Recruiting:
Nicole Iademarco is a 4 star guard, not ranked in the top 100, from Texas.