Pac 12 Preview: ASU

ASU will be a very guard heavy team this season, maybe playing 4 at a time. They lack post players and unless a frosh or transfer develops in the Post will be out rebounded often and that's certainly not a Charlie Turner-Thorne trademark.


Last Season: The Sun Devils were 20-13 and 9-9 in Pac 12 Play. ASU beat Michigan State in the first round of the NCAAs then lost by just 3 to the Champion South Carolina team.

The Coaching Staff:
Charli Turner Thorne returns for her 20th season as the Head Coach, and has taken the Sun Devils to the NCAAs 8 of her last 10 years of coaching. Charli sat out the 2012 season on a sabbatical.

Amanda Levens Moved on to be a Head Coach and Meg Sanders is taking time off.

Jackie Moore is in her 5th year as an Assistant at ASU. She has been an assistant at Miami of Florida, Boston College and Nevada.

Former ASU great and current WNBA All Star Briann January has joined the Staff.

Angie Nelp is in her first year coming from Rice.
Terri Mitchell is the Assistant to the Head Coach, named this summer. Terri was the Head Coach at Marquette for 18 years.


The Losses:
ASU lost 33 of their 64 points per game and 21 of their 38 rebounds. Big losses.

Sophie Bruner averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds.

Quinn Dornstauder averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Kelsey Moos averaged 5 points and 6 rebounds although she did miss 11 games however she started every game in which she could play.

Sydney Goodson and Sara Hattis averaged 4 points and 2 rebounds total.


The Additions:
Courtney Ekmark is a 6-0 Jr Guard who transferred from UConn and redshirted the past season. A top ranked player out of HS she averaged about 2 points in 9 minutes in her two seasons at UConn. Her brother is on the Stanford Men’s Basketball team.

Sophia Elenga is a 6-1 Jr Forward/ Post from France. Sophia has played the past two years at an Arizona JC. Last season she averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Eva Rubin is a 6-5 Frosh Post from Florida. Eva was ranked # 120.

Bre’yanna Sanders is a 6-0 Forward from CA. She wasn’t ranked however she was a star on a nationally ranked team.
This is the 7th ranked Pac 12 class including Ekmark who will be one of the best three point shooters in the league and excluding the JC transfer.


The Schedule:
ASU plays Florida State, Green Bay and F4 Mississippi State. They play the Washington and LA schools once each.


The Team:
Reili Richardson is a 5-11 Soph Guard. Reili is the top returning scorer at 8 points per game. She only made 22 threes at 24% but had a great Assist to Turnover ratio of 1.9. Richardson played on the recent national 19U team that would a world silver medal.

Kiara Russell is a 5-8 Soph Guard who averaged 4 points in 4 minutes per game.

Robbi Ryan is a 5-9 Soph Guard almost 7 points and 3 rebounds in 23 minutes per game.

Jamie Ruden is a 6-1 Soph Forward who averaged 4 points in 9 minutes per game.

Sabrina Haines is a 5-10 Jr Guard who averaged 7 points while starting all but one game. Haines made 29 threes at 39% leading the team in both categories.
Kianna Ibis is a 6-1 Jr Forward who averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes.

Charnea Johnson-Chapman is a 6-4 Soph Post who played in all but 4 games but only 7 minutes per game.


Predictions:
The Sun Devils have no players who averaged 3 rebounds per game last season. Their lack of height and inside players will hold them back. Their Guard play should be very good with Richardson, Ekmark and Haines and more.


2018 Recruiting: Tara Hanson is a 5-10 Wing from Canada.
Jamie Loera is a 5-9 Point Guard from Washington. Loera has a sister at Gonzaga and her older sister played at Oregon. Jamie played on the travel team with the Stanford bound Hull twins. I was able to watch her play several games and although neither recruit is ranked I liked Loera’s game a lot.