ASU basketball adds pair to recruiting class

ASU News and Sports from Arizona State's independent news source.

ASU basketball adds pair to recruiting class

By Nick Kosmider June 7, 2010 at 5:32 pm Print This Post

The ASU men’s basketball team added two more players to its 2010-11 recruiting class over the weekend, putting the total of new faces coming into coach Herb Sendek’s program next season at seven.

Kyle Cain, a 6-foot-7 forward from New Hampton (N.H.) Prep, and Carrick Felix, a 6-foot-6 junior college transfer from Idaho, have committed to the Sun Devils.

The additions are key for Sendek, who had four players transfer — Demetrius Walker, Brandon Thompson, Taylor Rhode and Victor Rudd — following ASU’s 22-win season that ended in a disappointing loss to Jacksonville at the buzzer in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Cain originally committed to Rhode Island but asked for and was granted a release of his scholarship last month, thus opening up his recruitment. He was considering Illinois and West Virginia before deciding to become a Sun Devil.

Felix, a player from Millennium High in nearby Goodyear, made waves in March when he became the first junior college player to sign with Duke during Mike Krzyzewski’s storied tenure. But Felix, too, had a change of heart and opened up his recruitment after being granted a release from his scholarship with the Blue Devils.

Cain and Felix join a class that already includes five other players: Keala King, Corey Hawkins, Chanse Creekmur, Jordan Bachynski, a 7-foot-2 center from Canada, and junior college transfer Brandon Dunson.

In addition to the transfers, ASU must deal with the losses of last season’s seniors: Derek Glasser, Eric Boateng and Jerren Shipp.

Sharpshooter Rihards Kuksiks told The Arizona Republic last week that he would return for his senior season in Tempe. Rumors had been circulating since the end of the Sun Devils’ season in March that Kuksiks might forfeit his final year of eligibility to play professionally overseas.

ASU will open its season on Nov. 16 at New Mexico.

Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu