With the NCAA gymnastics championship settled over the weekend, all of the winter sports have officially concluded. The post-winter Directors' Cup will be released on Thursday, and with ASU in 31st place, now is a good time to assess where the school's winter programs were:
Men's basketball: C+
ASU hasn't been awful in the past three seasons (one NCAA tournament appearance with two NIT berths,) but the Sun Devils changed coaches anyway. In for Herb Sendek comes well-known national champion Bobby Hurley, whose team is a top-four finalist for the services of 5-star Thon Maker. The fact that ASU is in these recruiting battles is progress, given the lack of elite talent on many ASU teams.
Women's basketball: A-
It's quite amazing how fast Charli Turner Thorne turned around the program. In 2012-13, the team went 13-18 and was ninth in the conference. This year, the Sun Devils were ranked ninth in the nation. ASU only loses one starter (guard Promise Amukamara) from a team that went to the Sweet 16 in 2014-15.
Swim/Dive: C
Six Pac-12 schools field a men's and women's swimming/diving team. Stanford, Cal and USC finished in the NCAA top 10 in both this past season, with Arizona in the top 15 in each. ASU's men didn't even score in the NCAA meet while women were 34th. It has now been three weeks since ASU athletic director Ray Anderson fired Dorsey Tierney-Walker, and the Sun Devils haven't announced her replacement yet.
Hockey: Incomplete
It's hard to give a grade for the hockey team because it was playing in the ACHA. Now ASU moves into NCAA Division I play, where it's still a mystery how well the team will play. ASU has a lot of new faces, so it might take a while for them all to jell.
Wrestling: B+
ASU didn't have its best performance in nationals (though junior Blake Stauffer bounced back from an early loss to earn All-America honors), but the Sun Devils improved under first-year coach Zeke Jones. ASU finished second at the conference meet, its best since 2006. ASU has the No. 1 incoming recruiting class coming in.
Gymnastics: C
ASU was so depleted in 2015 that it couldn’t field a full roster on most nights. During one night in Utah, the Sun Devils were two gymnasts short on a number of events. ASU finished No. 49 in the country (out of 82), and given two Pac-12 schools placed in the NCAA top-five in addition to the team not having any freshmen on it in 2015, the Sun Devils may have a long way to go toward being competitive in the conference.
Reach the sports editor at jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow @jjanssen11 on Twitter
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