The ASU men’s basketball team will take its first leap into the unknown Friday night, when it opens the season against Mississippi Valley State at Wells Fargo Arena.

For years, the Sun Devils played with a nothing-to-lose attitude, but that’s not the case this season.

With a No. 15 ranking and heavy expectations weighing on the team’s shoulders, ASU finds itself in unfamiliar territory.

Adding to the intrigue will be MVSU and its first-year coach Sean Woods.
“We really go in to the game without a lot of information, in terms of scouting, to provide to our players,” ASU coach Herb Sendek said.

Woods and Sendek are familiar with one another, however. Sendek was an assistant coach under Rick Pitino at the University of Kentucky, and mentored Woods for two years during his college career.

Above all other contests Sendek and Woods took part in together, stands the epic 1992 NCAA Tournament regional final between UK and Duke.

The game is best remembered for Christian Laettner’s legendary buzzer-beater that propelled Duke into the Final Four.

Less known, however, is Woods’ shot that put UK ahead by one with just 2.1 seconds left in the game.

If MVSU takes on the identity of its new coach, ASU should expect to see some tenacious defense.

"He was a hard-nosed player,” Sendek said. “He was just extraordinary with his on-the-ball defense. If he was on you, he was on you. He was going to be harassing you all night long."

Sixteen years later, student and teacher will collide.

MVSU reached the NCAA Tournament last year after winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament. MVSU earned a No. 16 seed but was trounced 70-29 in the first round by UCLA.

A few weeks later, former coach James Green left for Jacksonville State, despite leading the Delta Devils to their first tourney appearance in 12 years.

Woods inherits a squad without its top three scorers from a year ago. Carl Lucas, Stanford Speech and Larry Cox all graduated, leaving seniors Michael Clark (7.8 points per game) and Eric Petty (6.2 p.p.g.) as the team’s top returning scorers.

Petty, a 6-foot-6-inch forward, and senior guard Dwayne Harmason give Woods a nice inside-outside combo to work with.

The Sun Devils may be without junior guard Derek Glasser, who injured a finger on his left hand in practice this week and will be a game-time decision. Look for sophomore Jamelle McMillan to start at point guard.

Sendek noted that sophomore guard James Harden hurt his foot during a scrimmage last Saturday, but he should be fine for Friday.

The same goes for senior forward Jeff Pendergraph, who strained his back two weeks ago and missed some practice time.

Reach the reporter at alex.espinoza@asu.edu.