Life without James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph starts now for ASU men’s basketball team.

The Sun Devils, coming off just their second NCAA Tournament berth in 14 years, lost more than half of their offensive production from a year ago with the departure of two players that now find themselves on NBA rosters.

That means new faces will have to step up and fill that void left by two of the greatest players to ever come through the program.

ASU returns veterans in senior point guard Derek Glasser, junior guard Ty Abbott, junior guard/forward Rihards Kuksiks and also welcomes seven new freshmen, many who could make an immediate impact.

The Sun Devils held their media day on Thursday to discuss the upcoming season, and here are some notable quotes from coach Herb Sendek and some of the players the Sun Devils will rely on this season.

Coach Herb Sendek

On using the various preseason Pac-10 media polls as motivation:
“I have not spent a lot of time with that [and] haven’t really talked with them about that subject matter. I wouldn’t think we need to rely on what other people say to motivate us. I think the only lasting or meaningful motivation is that which comes from within. Hopefully, especially as the season starts, we don’t have to go there to get our juice. I think the juice is flowing anyway.”

On Derek Glasser’s development during his college career:
“In my mind, Derek is as improved as any player in college basketball over the last three years, and he certainly finished last season playing his career-best basketball. In the Pac-10 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, Derek was outstanding. He tied with Darren Collison for the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Pac-10, so he clearly has made tremendous strides in each stage of his career and established himself as a really good Pac-10 player.”

On the expectations for Eric Boateng:
“I’m really excited about Eric. I think he’s poised and ready to have an outstanding season. He’s worked hard every step of the way, he’s improved at every station and I think he’s going to have a really good senior year. What an easy guy to cheer for — how could you not cheer for Eric?”

Senior point guard Derek Glasser

On how the team will handle the loss of James Harden this season:
“It’s definitely going to be a committee role. I’m not going to sit here and tell you we have a new James Harden. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m going to do everything he did, or Ty’s going to do everything he did. We have a team of role players — we don’t have a superstar now. Somebody’s going to have to step up, whether it’s me or it’s Ty or Rik, and be, I’m not going to say a star, but somebody’s going to have to offensively pick up some slack.”

On how the program has changed since he arrived on campus:
“It’s a new program. I’d say the big thing is just the culture. When I first came here, it was OK to lose, [it was] ‘Oh, you were competitive, so that was OK. As long as you didn’t get blown out, it’s OK.’ But now, we learned how to win, and that’s a major thing.”

On being able to use the Weatherup Center in the offseason:
“I’ve never seen our team work like this. [In previous years], every time [we wanted to work out] we’d have to call a coach and say, ‘Can we get in the gym?’ or ‘Is there gym time’ or ‘What’s available today?’ Now, you just go swipe your little student card. We have 24-hour access, any time of the day, night you want to go get shots up. We have all the resources we need to get better, and guys have taken full advantage of that.”

Junior guard Ty Abbott

On assuming more of a leadership role this season:
“It’s a different role to be that old guy that I used to look up to. I try not to act like that bad guy or the father or anything. [The freshmen and I are] two years apart, so we’re just friends. We’re like brothers out here, so we just help each other out.”

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu