Pac 12 Previews: Arizona State University

Last Season: The Sun Devils were 22-11 and 10-7 in Pac 12 Play. They advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to Mississippi State.

The Coaching Staff:
Charli Turner Thorne returns for her 22th season as the Head Coach, and has taken the Sun Devils to the NCAAs 10 of her last 12 years of coaching. Charli sat out the 2012 season on a sabbatical.

Jackie Moore is in her 7th 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.

Angie Nelp is in her 3nd year coming from Rice.

Nikki Blue the former UCLA star has joined the staff as an assistant. Blue has Stanford connections having coached the past two years with Nicole Powell at Grand Canyon and then for three year prior for Coach McCall at Cal State Bakersfield.

Meg Saunders is a special assistant to Charli. This is Saunders 16th year on the staff after taking last season off.



The Losses:
Briann January is back full time in the WNBA, and not coaching at ASU.
Courtney Ekmark averaged 10 points the second leading scorer
Kianna Ibis averaged 14 points to lead the team and 6 rebounds.
Charnea Johnson-Chapman averaged 6 points and led the team at 7 rebounds per game.
Sophia Elenga averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds.

ASU lost 55% of their scoring and 55% of their rebounding.


The Additions:
Sydnei Caldwell, 5-9 Guard from New Jersey ranked 108
Eboni Walker, 5-11 Wing from Nevada, ranked # 44
Sara Bejedi, 5-7 Frosh Guard from Finland
Ja’Tavia Tapley, 6-3 Grad student transfer from USC.



The Schedule:
At Minnesota, at New Mexico and at home vs BYU, all three NCAA tournament teams last season. Also the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament which includes NCAA teams Auburn, Maine and Drake, plus Purdue. In league play ASU will visit Utah and Colorado and host Stanford and Cal for single games omly.


The Team:
Robbi Ryan is a 5-9 Sr Guard who averaged 7 points last season.
Reili Richardson is a 5-11 Sr Guard who averaged 5 points and 5 assists last season.
Jamie Ruden is a 6-2 Sr Forward who averaged 5 points per game.
Taya Hanson is a 5-10 Soph Guard from Canada. Hanson averaged 2 points.
Jamie Loera is a 5-9 Soph 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. Jamie averaged 3 points.
Iris Mbulito is a 6-1 Soph Wing from Spain, ranked as the # 2 foreign player. ASU recruited her with the competition being Pro ball in Europe. Iris averaged 4 points

Jayde Van Hyfte is a 6-1 Soph who averaged 2 points.
Kiara Russell is a 5-8 Sr Guard who averaged 3 points.
Bre’yanna Sanders is a 6-0 Jr Forward who played 8 games.
Eva Rubin is a 6-5 Sr Post who in 9 games.


Predictions:
Only two starters return and no one else who played over 13 minutes per game it looks like a down year for the Sun Devils. Of course there’s the Charli Turner-Thorne factor: she doesn’t coach down years. This team is very hard to predict. Coaching outstanding, players have a lot to prove. Several newcomers, Walker and Tapley should play quite a bit, Tapley being a very important addition. The need is for Richardson, Ruden and Ryan to have big Sr years.


2020 Recruiting:
Keeli Burton, 6-3 Post, WA, ranked # 78
Jaddan Simmons, 5-8 PG, WI
Sydney Erikstrup, 6-1 W, OR
Katelyn Levings, 6-3 F, OR, ranked # 48

Still recruiting Taylen Collins of OK 6-2