ASU Men’s Basketball: Ray Anderson is clear in what he wants for the program

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

 

With a full day to digest the end of Herb Sendek’s nine-year tenure as the head coach of the Arizona State men’s basketball team, three things are clear:

Sendek was a well-liked human being.

It was time to make this move.

This is Ray Anderson’s show.

Regardless of what people thought of Sendek’s coaching ability, the reactions surrounding his firing echoed admirable sentiments. Players, coaches and reporters expressed their positive views toward Sendek as a human being throughout the day following the fateful news.

From a strictly human being perspective, it was an unfortunate ending for Sendek and his staff.

“My opinion of Herb is that Herb is an outstanding man,” Anderson said.” I respect him, and I admire him, but the challenge very frankly was to improve the performance of the team on the field. When we extended him last year, we did so because I thought the recruiting was going well. I thought we had improved our assistant coaches, but I also really believe the performance could be elevated, and very frankly, that didn’t happen this year in my opinion.”

That being said, it was time to make a culture change around the program.

“We came here with the promise that in all of our sports we were going to work to be elite, best in class, and it’s time to be able to do that with basketball,” Anderson said. “We didn’t feel that  the performance was headed in that direction, so you got to make tough decisions and be able to do it decisively.”

Failing to bring in top-notch local recruits in addition to just two NCAA Tournament appearances in nine years, none going further than the Round of 32, was not going to meet standards for Ray Anderson. The VP of Athletics and athletic director was clear in that he wants to bring a new energy around the program.

“I’m looking for someone who is going to come in here and provide electricity and fire and sparks and really ignite the thought that Arizona State University men’s basketball can be really dynamic,” Anderson said.

Various names have been thrown around to take the newly vacant job, and the front-runner appears to be former VCU and Oklahoma head coach and current Duke associate head coach Jeff Capel, despite Anderson denying any contact with Capel or Capel’s agent.

Capel is best-known for his 2008-09 Oklahoma team that, led by eventual No. 1 NBA Draft pick Blake Griffin, opened the season 25-1 en route to an Elite Eight appearance where the Sooners lost to the eventual national champion North Carolina Tar Heels.

What Capel would hypothetically bring that was missing in the Sendek era is the ability to recruit high-level prospects. In addition to Griffin, Capel brought in three more McDonald’s All-Americans: Willie Warren, Tommie Mason-Griffin and Tiny Gallon. He has also been a part of the Duke staff that brought in back-to-back top-3 prospects in 2013-14 Freshman of the Year Jabari Parker and current Player of the Year candidate Jahlil Okafor.

Capel’s tenure at Oklahoma did end on a sour note, however, as the Sooners struggled to a 14-18 record in 2010-11 in the midst of an NCAA investigation that led to a two-year probation, though Capel was not implicated to be involved in the violations.

Other names thrown around on Twitter and elsewhere include current Memphis head coach Josh Pastner and current Dayton head coach Archie Miller.

Miller has shut down any rumors about wanting to be in Tempe, which would have him coaching and recruiting against his brother Sean Miller, the coach at Arizona.

Pastner’s reputation mirrors Capel in regard to his recruiting prowess, which led Memphis to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances before missing the post-season in 2014-15, the first time the Tigers haven’t played post-season basketball in 15 years.

Nonetheless, it is early in the hiring process and many names are likely to be thrown in and out of the proverbial ring, and Anderson has pledged to make sure ASU hires the right person to breathe life into the Sun Devil program.

“I’m looking for someone who has that personality,” Anderson said. “I’m looking for someone who is a dynamic recruiter. I’m looking for someone who is a dynamic developer of basketball talent. I’m looking for someone who can come in here and energize the people who want ASU basketball to be really electric.”

In the wake of Sendek being let go, four-star 2016 forward Brendan Bailey and three-star 2016 gaurd Lindsey Drew de-committed from ASU. This comes after the letdown of 2017 point guard Markus Howard’s de-commitment in mid-March.

“For those who maybe have changed their hearts and de-committed, we will say to them, ‘Just stay patient,’” Anderson said. “‘Wait and see what we do in terms of the next staff and what we do in terms of upgrading this program and the excitement that we’re going to infuse,’ and very frankly, we think those results are going to be positive.”

In just over 14 months on the job, Anderson has wasted no time making moves to bring to life his vision for the athletic program.

His moves include putting in motion the renovation project for Sun Devil Stadium, to which he personally donated $500,000; the firing of Tim Esmay and hiring of Tracy Smith to coach the baseball team; hiring Rene Lyst to coach the gymnastics team; and notching Zeke Jones for the wrestling team, among other big-time moves.

“Our vision, just like it is with football, just like it is with Phoenix Muni, is to upgrade the gameday basketball experience,” Anderson said.

In short, Anderson has declared a clear picture of what he wants for ASU athletics, and that is now coming to fruition in the basketball program. Anderson addressed the notion that ASU is a hard job for coaches because of the history of Arizona’s storied program and other logistic challenges.

“I’m not really concerned with the dismal past,” Anderson said. “I’m concerned with a bright and electric future, so we came here with the mission that we want all of our programs to be really exciting.”

Thus far, Anderson has hit the target with his moves. Now, it’s time to make that happen in the second-biggest revenue-making sport in college athletics. All Sun Devil fans can do is wait, watch, and see what he can do once again.

“We’re going to better the program,” Anderson said. “We’re going to give this basketball program a chance to compete consistently for championships.”

You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com

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