Pac 12 Previews: Arizona State University

Last Season: The Sun Devils were 22-13 and 10-8 in Pac 12 Play.

The Coaching Staff:
Charli Turner Thorne returns for her 21th season as the Head Coach, and has taken the Sun Devils to the NCAAs 9 of her last 11 years of coaching. Charli sat out the 2012 season on a sabbatical.

Jackie Moore is in her 6th year as an Assistant at ASU and is now the Associate Head Coach. She has been an assistant at Miami of Florida, Boston College and Nevada.

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

Angie Nelp is in her 2nd year coming from Rice.

Meg Saunders is back as special assistant to Charli. This is Saunders 15th year on the staff after taking last season off.



The Losses:
Sabrina Haines only played 9 games before being injured last season but averaged 10 points per game. Sabrina has transferred to Kentucky.



The Additions:
Taya Hanson is a 5-10 Frosh Guard from Canada. Hanson is ranked as the # 18 foreign player. She has been on Canadian National Youth teams the past 4 years.

Jamie Loera is a 5-9 Frosh Point Guard from Washington. Both sisters played D 1 basketball and did her Mom. Jamie was the Point Guard on the Stanford Hull twins Travel team.

Iris Mbulito is a 6-1 Frosh Wing from Spain, ranked as the # 2 foreign player. ASU recruited her with the competition being Pro ball in Europe. Iris was a recent star of the World 20U tournament.

Jayde Van Hyfte is a 6-1 Frosh Forward from Illinois.



The Schedule:
ASU plays Baylor in Ft Defiance AZ. This location is on a Native American Reservation. ASU plays Louisville in a tournament. These are the only tough non- conference games. ASU plays at Washington and Washington State and hosts USC and UCLA. They play home and away the other Pac 12 teams.


The Team:
Courtney Ekmark is a 6-0, 5th year Sr Guard who transferred from UConn and in her first season at ASU averaged 10 points and 4 rebounds. Courtney made 58 threes at 37%. However and this is unheard of, Courtney is in her 2nd year in ASU’s Law School.

Robbi Ryan is a 5-9 Jr Guard who averaged 10 points last season.

Kianna Ibis is a 6-1 Sr Forward who averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds last year.

Reili Richardson is a 5-11 Jr Guard who averaged 6 points and 5 assists last season.

Charnea Johnson-Chapman is a 6-4 Sr Post who averaged 7 points and 6 rebounds last season.

Jamie Ruden is a 6-2 Jr Forward who averaged 9 points per game.

Kiara Russell is a 5-8 Jr Guard who averaged 5 points.

Sophia Elenga is a 6-1 Sr Forward/ Post from France. Sophia averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds in just 18 minutes per game.

That’s 8 players who played a solid role including five who started either all or almost all games last season. Add Frosh Hanson and Mbulito and ten deep, the way CTT likes to rotate.

Bre’yanna Sanders is a 6-0 Forward who played 8 minutes per games.

Eva Rubin is a 6-5 Jr Post who played just 56 minutes in 13 games.



Predictions:
This is a very good making the NCAA team who will battle for a 4-6 position in the Pac 12. The Sun Devils lost only one player and she played just 9 games. They played tough defense last year allowing just 58 points per game.



2019 Recruiting:
Sydnei Caldwell, 5-9 Guard from New Jersey ranked 109
Eboni Walker, 5-11 Wing from Nevada, ranked # 110