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ASU football Camp Tontozona: Second day of practice filled with firsts

The Sun Devils finally got a chance to practice at Camp T's normal location.

Graham Camp T Newcomers

ASU football head coach Todd Graham speaks to the newcomers at Camp Tontozona on Thursday, August 5, in Payson, Ariz.


PAYSON, Ariz. — Camp Tontozona continued Thursday as ASU football held its second day of practice.  

It was the Sun Devils' first action on the field at Camp T after storms in the area forced the team to move its training session on Wednesday to a nearby turf surface in Payson.  

Thursday also marked the first full "newcomers" practice session for ASU.  The team has continued to split up it's practices into veterans and newcomers, although many returning players have taken part in the second practice. The newcomers session on day one of Camp T was cut short due to thunderstorms. 

Hometown Harry

Five-star freshman wide receiver N'keal Harry spoke to the media for the first time at Camp T Thursday. Harry joins the Sun Devils as the top wide receiver recruit in the country and the number one overall player in the state of Arizona.

"It's a little bit of pressure, but I'm usually pretty good about taking it all in," Harry said. "I don't think about too much when I'm playing I just do my thing out there."

After playing four seasons at Chandler High School, Harry is no stranger to football fans in Arizona. He was noticeably interactive with fans at Camp T on Thursday, a part of the game he said he's come to enjoy. 

"A lot of the people that I grew up playing around, they've reached out to me and told me they're excited to see me play," Harry said. "I definitely want to go out there and put on a show for them."

Harry looked every bit the physical specimen he's been hyped as at camp Thursday. He told reporters he benches 315, and spent about 30 minutes after practice working out with coaches. 

Hayes Switches Sides

Redshirt senior Gump Hayes practiced almost exclusively on the defensive side of the ball for ASU on Thursday. Hayes worked at defensive back along side coach TJ Rushings after spending most of Wednesday at running back. Head coach Todd Graham said Hayes will continue to alternate back-and-forth throughout camp. 

"That's kind of what we're doing here early," Graham said. "He will not be a full-time player on offense, he'll have a package."

Hayes didn't have much success in limited action at running back last season, carrying the ball 16 times for 65 yards. He was moved to defensive back in September as a result of some early-season injuries at the position. 

Inexperienced O-Line:

ASU returns just one starter on the offensive line in left tackle Evan Goodman, something that Graham acknowledged could be a difficult transition for the Sun Devils as they break in a new quarterback as well — whoever that may be. 

Sophomore offensive lineman Alex Losoya, who joins ASU after a year of junior college, said the biggest thing he's taken from the first two days of camp is just getting to know his teammates. 

"I think today we were communicating more," Losoya said. "Just trusting that we can play next to each other, communication is key. We're trying to play as one unit pretty much."

Losoya said he believes he'll fit in well with the o-line, although it remains to be seen how the playing time will be distributed between the group. 

The Sun Devils get right back to work tomorrow morning as practice resumes from Camp Tontozona at 8:20 a.m.


Reach the reporter at mfaye@asu.edu or follow @mattGfaye on Twitter. 

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