By Nick Krueger
ASU men’s basketball held a press conference Tuesday night to officially announce the hiring of Larry Greer and Eric Musselman to head coach Herb Sendek’s staff to replace Scott Pera and Lamont Smith who left last week for Penn and the University of Washington.
“Steve (Patterson) and I said we’re going to swing for the fences; I think we met our goal and hit a home run,” said Sendek. “In talking to several people it was clear to me that Larry and Eric were great additions to the Sun Devil family because of unique backgrounds and passion for the game…. As a group (of coaches) we are first excited, second experienced, and third hungry.”
Both new coaches expressed excitement to be a part of the ASU program, “I’m extremely excited to be here” said Musselman, “I did a lot of research and couldn’t find any reason not to do it … I’m here because of Coach Sendek’s reputation as a great x and o coach.” Greer echoed the same sentiments saying, “It was just the perfect storm.”
Asked about what they knew about this year’s team after watching a day of skill, both coaches had nothing but praise, “They have great work ethic, are high intensity guys, and great shooters,” said Musselman. “There is not a bad shooter in the group” added Greer, “we charted Ruslan (Pateev) shooting threes today, I think he was over 50 percent at one point.”
Dedrique Taylor, the lone returning assistant, will take over as recruiting coordinator a job previously held by Scott Pera. “I can’t help but grin from ear to ear,” Taylor said. “I can’t express how excited I am to get with these two guys, I’m ready to role up my sleeves and get to work.”
