And they’re off!
October 13th, 2007, 7:40 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Mark Heller
No Midnight Madness around here, but The Sendek Fourteen hit the practice court in full Friday night. They practiced once, then twice on Saturday, including an open-media practice at Wells Fargo Arena before Arizona State’s football team kicked off against Washington.
After three practices in less than 24 hours, “It’s been a good day for us,” Sendek said.
Here’s why: Both freshman James Harden and sophomore transfer Eric Boateng looked good at practice. Boateng had to sit out last season after transferring from Duke, and looked significantly stronger and agile (my questionable vision and non-medical background say he’s gained between 10 and 15 pounds of muscle).
Harden is an athlete-and-a-half. Actually, so is all of this year’s freshman class. How well that translates to successful college basketball — especially in a loaded Pac-10 — well, that’s a long, long way away.
Here comes the “however” part: ASU isn’t picture-perfect in the health department. Jeff Pendergraph was limited because of a hamstring, freshman Ty Abbott (Phoenix Desert Vista) took part in most of practice, but Sendek said he’s still recovering from summer surgery.
Junior foward Chad Goldstein had a boot on his right foot after twisting his ankle. Goldstein (from Scottsdale Desert Mountain) was walking around with one crutch, but he said he planned to be back on the floor in a week or two.
Not that he was likely to see any time, but freshman walk-on Trent Anderson has a torn ACL and is done for the season.
Sendek also joked he’s “retired” using megaphones at ASU football games for now, and mentioned a time students had him looking like Rambo, complete with bandana.
= 
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Perish the thought.
The Sun Devils will have an open scrimmage Oct. 27 at 4 p.m., before the ASU-Cal football game, which, as of Saturday’s kickoff, is shaping up to be a biggie.
