Coy could do double duty
June 9th, 2008, 4:59 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Mark Heller
Basketball may be Johnny Coy’s first love, but there’s a good chance it won’t be his only passion when he comes to ASU, as expected.
Incoming Arizona State freshman Johnny Coy is coming to town this summer to begin July classes. Or so it appears.
In addition to his record-setting feats in basketball at Benton High School in Missouri, the 6-foot-7 Coy is an accomplished baseball product.
He didn’t play summer baseball, but after a high school season in which he hit .655 with 13 home runs, 52 RBI and 19 stolen bases, Coy was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the seventh round (226 overall) of last week’s Major League Baseball amateur draft.
Last year’s 226th pick received a signing bonus of $123,000, and the Phillies will likely have to up that ante significantly to pull Coy away from his ASU commitment.
The odds are Coy will come to college.
But here’s another twist:
Johnny’s older brother, Dickie, said the family received a call from ASU baseball coach Pat Murphy on Monday offering Johnny a spot on the ASU baseball team next season, a decision instigated in-part by basketball coach Herb Sendek.
Obviously, playing time on the diamond is no guarantee, and schedules would still have to be worked out in the winter months when the two sports conflict. But Dickie Coy said it could happen.
“That’s the type of coach we’ve signed with,” Dickie Coy said of Sendek. “I don’t know if Johnny would ever give up basketball, but this way, we could get an opportunity to know exactly how good he could be (at baseball).”
Stay tuned.
According to ASUDevils.com, Alex Stepheson is visiting ASU this week. The North Carolina transfer wants to come back west to be closer to family. He averaged 4.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore, and is a solid defender.
Whether he ends up at ASU, UCLA, Stanford or California, he wouldn’t be eligible until 2009-10.
