Nov. 18, 1997
Arizona State Plays Host to Wagner in Chase NIT
SUN DEVILS PLAY HOST TO WAGNER IN CHASE NIT: The Arizona State men's basketball team takes on the Wagner Seahawks on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. MST at the University Activity Center in the opening round of the Chase NIT. ASU (1-0) is led by senior guard Jeremy Veal, who averaged 18.7 points per game last year en route to earning All-Pac-10 honors and posted 32 points against Cal State Northridge on Nov. 16. The Sun Devils have just seven healthy scholarship players available for the Wagner matchup, as both Okeme Oziwo (out for season with injuries suffered in an August car accident) and Reggie Hester will miss the contest. The winner of the Wagner/ASU game will play the winner of the Cincinnati/Detroit game Friday night at 10 p.m. MST/Midnight EST on ESPN. If ASU wins, the game will be played at either Cincinnati or Detroit. Wednesday's game will be the first meeting between Wagner and ASU. Wagner is 0-1, losing to Lehigh 80-77 at Wagner Monday night. The game marks Wagner's first vs. a Pac-10 opponent, while it marks ASU's first vs. a Northeast Conference team.
ABOUT THE OPENER: ASU topped Northridge 97-91 on Nov. 16 in Tempe as Jeremy Veal led the way with a career-high 32 points...it was the third 30-point game of Veal's career...Bobby Lazor posted 22 points and six boards in his Sun Devil debut...Mike Batiste added 14 points, seven boards and six blocks...ASU scored 53 points in the second half for the win...ASU made 22-of-27 (.815) free throws in the win, including 17-of-21 (.810) in the second half.
MEDIA COVERAGE: KMVP 860 AM is the radio home of Sun Devil basketball. Tom Dillon, Arizona's Sportscaster of the Year 15 years running and the voice of Sun Devil athletics as well as the Arizona Cardinals handles the play-by-play duties. All games are on KMVP 860 AM, except those that conflict with other KMVP programming. Sun Devil games are then moved to KTAR 620 AM. Tim Healey and Gil Tyree handle the play-by-play and color commentary for KTVK-3. KTVK-3 will broadcast 13 Sun Devil games this year.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1984-85, only five Pac-10 teams have reached the Sweet Sixteen. Arizona (1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997), UCLA (1990, 1992, 1995, 1997), California (1993, 1997), Stanford (1997) and Arizona State (1995).
PAC-10 MEDIA POLL: ASU was picked to finish tenth by the Pac-10 Media in a preseason poll. The results, with first-place votes in parentheses:
1. Arizona (22) 2. UCLA (5) 3. Stanford 4. Washington 5. California 6. USC 7. Oregon State 8. Oregon 9. Washington State 10. Arizona State
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (1-0 in 1997-98) Pos # Name Yr Ht. PPG RPG Notes G 11 Ahlon Lewis Sr. 6-0 8.0 7.0* Led ASU with seven assists vs. CSN G 21 Jeremy Veal Sr. 6-3 32.0 3.0* Career-high 32 points vs. CSN (40 min.) G 5 Eddie House So. 6-1 9.0 3.0* Pac-10 All-Frosh Team last year F 4 Bobby Lazor Jr. 6-9 22.0 6.0 Transfer from Syracuse F 24 Mike Batiste Jr. 6-8 14.0 7.0 Six blocks vs. CSN G 2 Reggie Hester Jr. 6-2 -- -- Will sit out Wagner game G 3 D'Angelo Jones Fr. 5-10 -- -- Walkon from Scottsdale, Ariz. G 13 Ron DuBois Jr. 5-10 0.0 0.0 Walkon who has earned scholarship G-F 22 Jason Patton So. 6-4 9.0 3.0 4-5 from floor vs. CSN F-C 25 Okeme Oziwo So. 6-8 2.9 5.2 Will miss season (car accident injuries) F 32 Derek Smith Fr. 6-5 -- -- Walkon from Grand Junction, Colo. F 40 Urit Kelly Sr. 6-6 3.0 3.0 Shot 80 percent from FT line in 96-97 * -- denotes assists per game.
BAD LUCK: Since 1990, 23 of 24 Pac-10 teams who have won 11 conference games have been selected to the NCAA Tourney. The exception? ASU in 1992-93, when it was 11-7 and tied for third. Also, 27 of 28 teams since 1990 who have posted 18 overall wins and 10 Pac-10 wins have qualified for the NCAA. Again, the odd team out was ASU in 1992-93.
BATISTE NOTES: Last season at this time, junior college transfer Mike Batiste was not even on the Sun Devil roster, as the 6-8 forward transferred in December and played in 22 games despite have knee surgery the previous March...posted 14 points, seven boards and six blocks in opener vs. Cal State Northridge...made the Pac-10 All-Newcomer team last year and showed signs of becoming a dominant player in the league...posted 25 points and seven boards against both Stanford and Arizona...posted three 20-point games in 1996-97...will turn 20 years old on Nov. 21.
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING NOTE: Mike Bibby of Arizona and ASU's Eddie House were the only Pac-10 players to notch at least 50 three-pointers, 50 steals and 100 assists in 1996-97. House posted 59 steals, an ASU freshman record, and also hit 57 three-pointers and dished out 108 assists, the second-best amount for a freshman in ASU history.
LEAGUE'S BEST SHOOTER???: Jeremy Veal also is the only player in the Pac-10 returning this year who finished in the league's top 10 in both three-point shooting percentage and free throw percentage. Veal finished third in 3-point percentage (.443/58-of-131) and 10th in FT percentage (.774/106-of-137). Others on the list include then-seniors Isaac Fontaine, Brevin Knight and Kenya Wilkins.
ALL-LEAGUE HONORS: Jeremy Veal earned All-Pac-10 honors, becoming the 13th Sun Devil to earn the honor. The last Sun Devil to accomplish the feat was Mario Bennett in 1995. Veal will have a chance to earn the honor twice in his career, something accomplished by just three other Sun Devils: Mario Bennett (1993-94 and 1994-95), Lafayette "Fat" Lever (1980-81 and 1981-82) and Stevin Smith (1992-93 and 1993-94).
HOUSE ON ALL-FROSH SQUAD: Eddie House made the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team, becoming the seventh Sun Devil to accomplish the feat. Others are: Steve Beck (1983-84), Chris Sandle (1984-85), Jamal Faulkner (1990-91 and also Pac-10 Freshman of the Year), Dwayne Fontana (1990-91), Mario Bennett (1991-92) and Ron Riley (1992-93).
VEAL IN GOOD COMPANY: Jeremy Veal finished in the league's top five in both scoring (4th/18.7 ppg) and assists (T5th/4.7), becoming only the fourth Pac-10 player to accomplish the feat since 1983. The others are all NBA stars: Damon Stoudamire (1993-94 and 1994-95), Terrell Brandon (1990-91) and Gary Payton (1988-89 and 1989-90).
QUICK NOTES: ASU led the league in turnover margin (+5.2) for the fourth time in the past five years...Eddie House earned honorable mention Freshman All-America honors from Basketball Weekly. House also set the ASU freshman record for steals with 59 and became the first ASU freshman to notch 50 steals (59) and 100 assists (108). House started in 22 games and played in all 30...Mike Batiste earned Pac-10 All-Newcomer honors. Batiste joined the team in mid-year and played in 22 games and averaged 12.0 points and 6.7 rebounds. He shot 72.2 percent from the free throw line...Eddie House tied a Great Alaska Shootout Tournament record with seven three-pointers vs. Maine on Nov. 30.
DOUBLE-O: Okeme Oziwo, a 6-8 sophomore who played the 1995-96 season as a true freshman and redshirted last year with stress fractures, will miss the entire 1997-98 season after suffering numerous injuries in a car accident in late August. Oziwo suffered a broken tibia and fibula and several other injuries. He earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 Freshman honors in 1995-96 and had gained 30 pounds since his freshman year in preparation for this year.
GETTING TO KNOW DON NEWMAN: Named ASU's 11th head coach on Sept. 22, 1997...will turn 40 on Nov. 22...born in New Orleans...played at LSU and Idaho...has coached at Cal-State Sacramento, Washington State, Moscow High School and Lewiston High School, both of them in Idaho...played for numerous professional teams, including: Seattle Seahawks, Boston Celtics, Montana Golden Nuggets, New York Jets, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger Cats...coached at Montana by George Karl...went 20-114 at Cal State Sacramento while taking team from Division I to Division II status...CSS traveled to almost half the country (22 states) in his five-year career.
TOP 1996-97 NUMBERS: Here's a look at ASU's top returning players, with Pac-10 rankings noted:
Scoring Pac-10 Jeremy Veal 4th 18.7 Rebounding Mike Batiste 10th 6.7 FG Pct. Jeremy Veal 44.3 Eddie House 41.6 Mike Batiste 40.0 FT Pct. Jeremy Veal 10th 77.4 Assists Jeremy Veal T-5th 4.7 Steals Eddie House T-7th 2.0 1996-97 Team Statistics Turnover Margin 1st +5.2 Assists Average T-1st 17.8 Steals Per Game 2nd 10.0 Free Throw Pct. 7th 66.5 3-PT FG Pct. 8th 33.5 Scoring Defense 8th 74.4 Scoring Offense 9th 72.7 Scoring Margin 9th -1.7 FG Pct. Defense 9th 45.1 Rebound Margin 10th -7.2 Field Goal Pct. 10th 42.5 Rebounds 10th 34.7
QUICK NOTES
- Jeremy Veal is the only current Sun Devil who has played at ASU for more than one year. His 18.7 ppg was 65th in the nation last year.
- ASU led the league in turnover margin for the fourth time in the past five years in 1996-97.
- Eddie House became the first freshman in ASU history to notch 50 steals (59) and 100 assists (108) in a season last year.
- The last time ASU was picked to finish tenth in the Pac-10 media poll (1992-93), the Sun Devils finished tied for third with an 18-8 overall and 11-7 Pac-10 mark.