(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
ESPNW (a section of ESPN’s website focused on women’s sports), recently named ASU Head Coach Charli Turner-Thorne as their midseason women’s basketball coach of the year.
Turner-Thorne certainly has the resume necessary to receive an award like this after leading her team to completely shatter expectations for the second straight season.
Last year the Sun Devils were voted to finish 10th in the conference in a Pac-12 coaches poll but ended the year at the four spot, while also capturing an NCAA tournament birth.
2015 has been much of the same for Turner-Thorne, as ASU has blown past their 6th place projected finish, all the way to the two spot in the conference and a top 10 AP ranking for much of the season.
After losing leading scorers Adrianna Thomas and Deja Mann to graduation this offseason, things looked bleak for Arizona State coming into the year. Yet Turner-Thorne led the team to their best start in school history and their first road win over Stanford in 31 years.
While the head ball coach has a lot to do with a team’s success, it’s also up to the players to keep up their end of the bargain by playing well on the floor.
This year’s Sun Devils have done just that, with key contributors like Elisha Davis, Katie Hempen, and Sophie Brunner stepping up and filling the leadership voids left by Thomas and Mann.
With things seeming to click for ASU under the helm of Turner-Thorne there seems to be no limit on what they can accomplish in Seattle at the Pac-12 tournament and wherever they end up in the bright lights of March Madness.
