Last week, Mike Leake was concerned about being able to stretch his Per Diem money enough to afford food.

He doesn’t exactly need to worry anymore.

The junior right-hander on the ASU baseball team was selected eighth overall by the Cincinnati Reds in last Tuesday’s MLB draft, making him the highest ASU draft pick since 1998.

That accomplishment will earn Leake six-figure money from his signing bonus alone, but his demeanor before the draft wasn’t one of a person about to become a millionaire in one snap of the fingers.

“It’s just another day,” Leake said. “I’m not a prospect, really. I’m 5-foot-10.”

Leake is right in that he isn’t the typical tall, “flame-throwing” pitcher that makes professional scouts drool.

But that has hardly mattered during his ASU career, as he will depart as one of the greatest players in the history of the program and one of the most successful Sun Devil student-athletes ever.

“He’s special,” ASU coach Pat Murphy said. “[He’s] right up there for me. You don’t like to separate, but there ain’t too many better that I’ve been around.”

Leake currently leads the nation with 16 wins and ranks second in ERA (1.36) and strikeouts (150).

Because of those numbers, this year Leake was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season, a first-team All-American and a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award for the National Player of the Year.

But Leake’s high standards also extend to his schoolwork. He was selected as the Academic All-American of the Year last month after posting a 3.42 grade-point average as a management major.

“Not only is he a dominant pitcher and a team leader, but he leads by example in the classroom as well,” Murphy said, according to ASU media relations. “We have been extremely lucky to have him in our program over the past three years.”

While Leake’s statistics are stellar in both areas that make up a student-athlete, Murphy said Leake’s influence on this year’s young Sun Devil team is what makes him unique and is a big reason why ASU is back in the College World Series for the third time in five seasons.

“It’s not ‘rah-rah, talk to you, be nice to you, pump you up’ leadership,” Murphy said. “It’s true, authentic leadership. Not a lot of guys are carrying around his baseball card, if you know what I mean.

He’s not their best friend, that’s for sure, but he does hold them accountable.”

Leake also doesn’t have a “rah-rah” attitude with reporters. He isn’t overly cocky, but his confidence shows through when he gives one-word answers with a smug smile on his face.

Leake is a straight-up and no-nonsense guy — both on and off the mound.

The pitcher grew up in the San Diego area and was a standout two-way player at Fallbrook High School. As a senior, he went 11-1 with a 1.87 ERA and 96 strikeouts and batted .342 with eight home runs.

Leake was then drafted in the seventh round by the Oakland Athletics out of high school, but he instead opted to come to Tempe.

And what a career he’s had.

Leake burst onto the scene as a freshman, going 13-2 in a season where he moved from the Sun Devils’ closer to the starting rotation. He set new ASU freshmen records with 127 innings pitched and 94 strikeouts, was an All-Pac-10 First Team selection and was named a Third Team All-American.

He took home his first Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year award in 2008 after posting an 11-3 record with a 3.49 ERA during his sophomore campaign, but this season is when Leake’s game went from great to dominant.

He has cut his ERA in half, struck out 46 more batters and won his 40th career game in the Sun Devils’ Super Regional against Clemson in an era where that simply doesn’t happen anymore.

“You win 16 games as a college junior [and] win your 40th game of your career at Arizona State in the Pac-10 playing the non-league schedule we play — what do you say?” Murphy said after that game.

Leake said the reason for his growth between his sophomore and junior seasons is because he was able to put the mental and physical aspects of the game together.

“I always just had to go out there and get it done right then and there and try to be as dirty as I [could], and then by that time I’d be at 140 pitches in the seventh inning,” he said. “[This year], I’ve kind of put my emotions and my ability to hit my spots and be consistent all in one.”

While Leake’s stuff gives hitters fits, it has never been overpowering. He instead relies on his command, his competitiveness and his ability to outsmart hitters.

And more often than not, it works.

That no-lose mentality has even brought along comparisons to former Sun Devil and reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia by at least one MLB front-office member.

“How cool is that?” Murphy said. “They’re totally opposites personality-wise, but then you start thinking, on the field [they’re] pretty similar. [Their attitude] is like ‘get it done.’ [They] try too hard sometimes to do it all themselves.”

But before Leake moves on to his professional career, he still has one major goal to accomplish as a Sun Devil. He is one of just two players on the current roster that was on the 2007 College World Series team, but his most vivid memory of Omaha is listening to the fans sing along to the song “Sweet Caroline” as ASU was about to be eliminated by UC Irvine.

Leake said he now hates that song.

Leake will start Tuesday’s CWS game against Texas, and he said he wants to make sure this year’s trip to Omaha ends better than the one two years ago.

“We have one month of college baseball, so we’re going to eat up that time as much as we can,” Leake said. “We’ve got to put all our focus into this month, and then we can worry about our dreams, because this is one of our dreams.”

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu