Hein swept both of her singles matches last weekend in the Sun Devils’ victories over Washington State and Washington, defeating WSU’s Elisabeth Fournier, 6-2, 7-5 and the UW’s Lina Xu, 6-1, 6-1.

Hein also swept doubles with partner senior Nadia Abdala. The duo defeated WSU’s Lea Jansen/Elisabeth Fournier, 8-2, and UW’s Venise Chan/Samantha Smith, 8-3.

This is the first time Hein has been named Player of the Week and the seventh time all-time that a Sun Devil has won the award.

That team lost in the first round of the tournament to USC and was left out of the NCAA Tournament field on Selection Sunday. The players that went through that don’t want to experience being left out again.

“It sucked,” senior guard Derek Glasser said of that year. “There is nothing worse than hearing all the teams go by, getting called, that you feel like you are better than or beat get called and you don’t.”

The players know that if they keep winning, the selection committee has to take them. The Sun Devils will most likely be out if they don’t win on Thursday.

“If we get to the championship, I think we are for sure in,” Glasser said. “If we only get one win, I think we will be sitting there on Sunday like [my] sophomore year, hoping and praying.”

Junior guard Ty Abbott doesn’t want to leave any doubt in the mind of the committee.

“All wins — that is my gut feeling,” Abbott said. “We need to go and win the whole thing. We just want to make it that there is no question. We still have an opportunity to do that.”

Improving Pac-10

If you ask ASU coach Herb Sendek, the Pac-10 doesn’t deserve the negative attention and vibe that it keeps getting.

“Our league has improved tremendously,” Sendek said. “If you take a snapshot of the quality of play in our league now from where it was in November and December, our conference is improved.”

The improvement of the league can’t be shown, because ever since December, teams have only played conference games.

“In order to rely on that statement, you would have to sit down and watch the games,” Sendek said. “Our league has improved and grown tremendously. I think that bodes well for us on Selection Sunday. Part of what the committee will do is ‘when we watch this team play what do our eyes see?’ That has to count for something.”

But will the committee actually take the time to notice the improvement and ignore all the negative hype?

“I think they take their responsibilities seriously,” Sendek said. “They do an incredible amount of homework. They would be the first to tell you how challenging it is. There is so much balance, it is incredible.”

Time Change

The Sun Devils will get a bit more time to prepare for their semifinal matchup if they are victorious on Thursday.

The Pac-10 conference announced on Tuesday that the game times of the night session on Thursday have been reversed. Instead of being the late game, ASU will take on Stanford at 7:10 p.m. MST.

Washington and Oregon St. will now be the late game, getting underway at 9:40 MST.

“As the higher seed in the evening session, Arizona State earned the right to extra recovery time should it advance to Friday’s semifinal,” the conference said in a released statement. “With one less play-in game in this year’s tournament, the Conference determined that the adjustment to the bracket was necessary for this year.”

Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu

University of Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday that the Fighting Irish want to remain independent, but could be forced by expansion to make a change.

“We’re trying like hell to maintain our football independence,” Swarbrick told the Associated Press. “I think it’s good for college football, and it’s good for Notre Dame.”

Really, Jack? Has independence also led to a 21-season national championship drought, 16 seasons without even appearing in the title game, and an NCAA-record nine straight bowl game losses from 1994 to 2006?

Notre Dame’s last “great” moment: a 49-21 win over Hawaii in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl. Awesome.

Swarbrick said the impending changes “could be relatively small or they could be seismic.” Maybe seismic changes ought to take place, Jack.

Maybe it’s time your elitist holier-than-thou football program showed its worth and proved it deserves a mammoth TV contract with NBC.

Maybe, Jack, Notre Dame isn’t quite as special as you seem to think it is.

It’s time to face the truth: Notre Dame has fallen, and it’s time to make a change.

It all starts with Memphis (6-10) on Wednesday.

Two Pac-10 wins over the weekend finally got things rolling for ASU (6-2, 2-0 Pac-10) after dodging bad weather for several weeks.

“[Those] matches were great for us last weekend,” ASU coach Sheila McInerney said. “It was important that we went up there and had two wins. Now we just have to continue to keep being tough and keep the momentum going.”

The Tigers have struggled against big name schools, but defeated Arkansas Tech on Feb. 27 to end a four-dual losing streak.

The Sun Devils have won three straight with strong doubles play and quick starts, which were key in the Sun Devils’ last two victories.

After winning the doubles point against Washington, singles victories by junior Micaela Hein and sophomore Sianna Simmons quickly put ASU up 3-1 on the Huskies.

“Getting off to a good start with some of these kids and keeping the foot on the gas pedal helped,” McInerney said.

ASU junior Kelcy McKenna was able to clinch the victory shortly after Simmons’ win.

No. 104 McKenna has been playing better since moving down to the No. 3 spot.

She had been ranked as high as No. 7 this season.

“Obviously she had two good wins for us this weekend,” McInerney said. “It’s not easy to win anywhere in the lineup quite frankly. There are different pressures in every spot.”

Four Sun Devils won both of their matches against Washington and Washington State, including sophomore Michelle Brycki and Simmons in the No. 5 and No. 6 spots.

“I certainly don’t think we are overconfident in any of the positions,” McInerney said. “Let’s face it. You just have to go out there everyday and just battle. Do we have confidence in Michelle and Sianna? Absolutely. But we have confidence in all the kids.”

Following Memphis on Wednesday, ASU will play against four Pac-10 schools over six duals, with three of them ranked in the top 15.

The Pac-10 has seven total teams ranked lead by No. 2 UCLA, No. 8 California, No. 11 Stanford, No. 13 USC, No. 16 Washington, No. 32 ASU and No. 59 Arizona.

The Sun Devils moved up 12 spots after defeating Washington, then ranked No. 18.

“It only gets tougher from here on in, which is good,” McInerney said.

ASU faces Oregon (5-9, 0-2 Pac-10) and No. 13 USC (8-4, 1-2 Pac-10) this weekend.

Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu

Top Player: Stanford sophomore forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike has been the top player in the Pac-10 this season, leading the conference in scoring and field-goal percentage. (Photo Courtesy of Kyle Anderson)

The regular season is over for Pac-10 basketball, and with the men’s conference awards being announced Monday, it’s time to look at how the awards on the women’s side could fall later this week.

Here are The State Press’ predictions for the key Pac-10 awards.

Player of the Year: Nnemkadi Ogwumike, sophomore forward, Stanford

Ogwumike had a breakout sophomore season, spearheading the dominant Stanford post unit that was the best in the nation.
Not the easiest thing to do when the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year, Stanford senior Jayne Appel, is also part of that same lethal inside game.

Ogwumike led the conference in scoring (18.2 points per game) and field-goal percentage (.638) while also ranking third in rebounding (9.4 per game).

The scary thing for the rest of the Pac-10 is that Ogwumike still has two years left with the Cardinal. And with the departure of Appel and Connecticut senior center Tina Charles coming after this season, Ogwumike is the likely candidate to emerge as the nation’s most feared post player next season.

Coach of the Year: Nikki Caldwell, UCLA

Caldwell has already made her mark at UCLA in her second year with the program, quickly taking the Bruins from team that had not made the NCAA Tournament since the 2005-06 season to one that is a lock for the Big Dance as clearly the Pac-10’s second-best team.

UCLA has been particularly stingy on the defensive end of the floor, ranking second in the conference in scoring defense (57 points per game) and field-goal percentage defense (.364).

Caldwell has also done a great job continuing to groom the players that were in Westwood when she arrived, such as junior guard Doreena Campbell and senior guard Erica Tukiainen, and bringing in fresh new talent, such as freshman forward Markel Walker and sophomore forward Jasmine Dixon, that have made an immediate impact.

Freshman of the Year: Markel Walker, forward, UCLA

While UA guard Davellyn Whyte is the Pac-10’s top freshman scorer, Walker gets the nod because her game is more versatile.
Walker ranks eighth in the Pac-10 in rebounding (7.6 per game) and sixth in steals (2.07 per game) while also scoring 10.8 points per game.

Defensive Player of the Year: Ify Ibekwe, junior forward, UA

The first two years of this award’s existence, it went to former ASU guard Briann January, so now it’s probably due for it to go to an inside player.

And Ibekwe has certainly earned it.

The junior forward has had another stellar all-around season, but much of her influence on the game comes on the defensive end.

Though she stands just 6-foot-2, Ibekwe is tied for sixth in the nation in rebounding (11.3 per game) and also ranks in the top 10 in the Pac-10 in steals (2.17 per game) and blocked shots (1.21 per game).

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu

According to Stephen A. Smith’s NBA sources, Iverson “will either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away” after his recent divorce with a wife about whom Iverson once said, “I’d die for her … I’d die without her.”

The near-overnight deterioration of Iverson is like that of a rock star.

Of course, it’s a great story.

He’s an artist — literally. Dude can sketch, like really well.

It’s no coincidence. It perhaps gives perspective to his court brilliance.

If you never saw him play, that’s sad.

His imagination of movement within the 4,700 square feet of hardwood transcended the game. And the way it was done below the rim was dissimilar to the acrobatics of Michael Jordan, David Thompson and Julius Erving.

He was also a chameleon.

Behind the fluorescing exterior was camouflaged a gratuitous, self-serving style. And thus, he represented one of the many paradoxes that leave a confusing legacy — one that should beget self-reflection for basketball fans and beyond.

Never has a player his size carried his team further, but never has one man hindered more the synergistic potential of the five-man game.

Never has a player more important, as has been purported throughout his career, put his commitment to the team in question by partying more. But never has a player sacrificed his body by playing through injury or played harder. Iverson’s effort and pain-threshold defied belief, as did the legends of his no-sleep, hung-over, 40-point performances.

Iverson entered the league in an era when Jordan was playing and consequently distracting middle-America from thug ball — used by Pat Riley, taken from Chuck Daly and imitated by other Eastern Conference teams looking to muck things up and even the odds.

Iverson came from the streets and made headlines before he was in college for his alleged participation in a “basketbrawl.”

Under John Thompson, Georgetown was a symbol of subculture resistance for black youths across the country.

Iverson was at the heart of it.

Later, he introduced white American basketball lovers to cornrows, crossovers and candor.

While both thug ball and Iverson were raw in their explicitness, only one changed the demographics of the game.

Under the guise of a gladiator code, many Americans could accept the image of obscene intimidation used by the likes of Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason.

They were turned off by Iverson’s image, and his tattoos soon became an equivocation of the thug moniker used frequently with oft-racist undertones about NBA players.

Jordan’s individual talents singlehandedly changed the way the NBA was marketed, and as a result, played and officiated.

Thug ball, thankfully, died a quick death shortly after Jordan’s second retirement.

Jordan inspired Iverson’s individual-centered game, and while it was an outlying offshoot of it, the “Answer” represented its continuation.

Jordan, like Tiger Woods (how’d that work out?), hid behind a commercial persona for the entirety of his playing career.

Iverson didn’t.

The common fan was repulsed when Jordan revealed his true personality during his Hall of Fame speech, though most, had they accepted the books written about him, should have known better.

Both were competitive addicts and heavy drinkers — at the least.

By comparison, Iverson is a saint — but Jordan, a country-club man, will continue to be revered.

Iverson won’t.

Iverson put his complexities out in the open while Jordan hid his.

On the whole, middle America, perhaps fearful, chose to form their opinions of Iverson from superficial fragments and sound bites (Practice?).

They chose not to think.

Iverson was hip-hop before it was commercialized and watered-down — when it meant something.

Reach Nick at nruland@asu.edu

On Saturday evening in Chicago, the Sun Devils (26-9-3) rallied from a late two-goal deficit to upset No. 6 Liberty University 7-4.

ASU entered the first intermission down 3-1 and the second intermission down 4-2, before the Sun Devils exploded for five goals in the third period, including two empty-net goals to douse the Flames (29-3-3).

After junior forward Paul Scola was the only Sun Devil able to find the back of the twine, scoring both of ASU’s early goals, the rest of the team began to contribute. Following freshman forward Tim Hurst’s score at the 13:45 mark, sophomore defenseman Robert Restermayer scored on the power play off a pass from junior forward Pat Lind to tie the game.

With less than two minutes to play in the game before overtime, Scola found the back of the net yet again to give ASU the lead and complete the hat trick.

Junior forward Mark Chadwick and sophomore forward Kris Myshak tacked on empty-net goals to send ASU to the quarterfinals.

The Sun Devils were met in the quarterfinals by No. 3 Ohio (34-9-3), and this time it was ASU who saw a two-goal lead evaporate. Junior forward Joe Schweiger and freshman forward Patrick Rogan each scored in the first period to give ASU a two-goal lead and the early momentum. But just as ASU exploded for five goals in a period the night before, Ohio suddenly found its offense and peppered ASU sophomore goalie Mark Shacker. The Bobcats scored five goals in a span of 6:35 in the second to pull away. Schweiger scored in near the end of the second period to close the gap to 5-3, but ASU would get no closer as Ohio goaltender Paul Marshall shut the door to end ASU’s season.

Schweiger finished the weekend with two goals and an assist, while Scola’s hat trick would be his only points of the weekend.

Reach the reporter at kaglaser@asu.edu

You should be delivering more than the $22,000 bonus check that Herb Sendek is due for winning Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

He should get a long-term contract extension.

What Sendek has built in just four years at ASU is simply amazing. Finishing second in the Pac-10 despite losing two NBA players is even more astounding.

There is nobody that I want leading the men’s basketball program other than Sendek. He is a class act and just is a genuinely great person.

He is developing not only a winning product on the floor, but he is developing strong young men off of it as well.

I’d also like to take this moment to thank North Carolina State for not wanting to keep Sendek around, even though he was winning there as well.

I wonder how Wolfpack Nation feels today?

While Sendek took a team that nobody expected to do anything and led them to a second-place finish in conference, NC State finished second-to-last in the ACC.

Do you know how many times they have made the NCAA Tournament since Sendek was run out of town?

Zero.

So, thanks again.

Blaha, a native of Austria, recently took home the gold medal in the 3-meter by 45 points and was the runner-up in the 1-meter at the Pac-10 Championships.

Earlier in the month, Blaha won the 1-meter and finished third in the 3-meter in ASU’s dual meet against UA.

Blaha is the third ASU diver and second male diver to win the Pac-10 Diver of the Month award this year, as sophomore Elina Eggers and junior Cameron Bradshaw each won the award for the month of December.

BIG CONTRIBUTOR: Sophomore infielder Riccio Torrez is part of a well-rounded ASU offense that has seen multiple players contribute to the Sun Devils’ 11-0 start. (Photo by Kyle Thompson)

Brandon Magee has accumulated his fair share of hits during his time at ASU, but until last weekend, all of those came as a linebacker for the Sun Devil football team.

On Saturday, Magee knocked his first career hit in a maroon-and-gold baseball uniform — a pinch-hit single to center that was part of ASU’s 22-hit performance in a 16-2 win over UC Riverside.

Magee, who Sun Devil players exalt as being one of the most fun guys in the clubhouse, received a standing ovation from his teammates.

What Magee’s hit represented is a wide range of contributors who are responsible for No. 2 ASU’s 11-0 start, a mark the team will try to improve when it hosts Grand Canyon on Tuesday night at Packard Stadium.

Sophomore Zack MacPhee’s early eye-popping numbers, which include a Pac-10 lead in batting average (.564), runs scored (15), RBI (16), triples (7), stolen bases (7) and total bases (40), have jumped out of the box score, but a symphony of aluminum pings has been orchestrated not by one, but a slew of Sun Devil batters.

With a conference-leading .385 team batting average, ASU has used the nonconference schedule to spread around playing time, something first-year coach Tim Esmay said will pay dividends when the Pac-10 schedule begins on March 26, if not make his job of crafting a lineup more difficult.

“What we’ve wanted to do is get some guys some playing time and get an idea of, when this thing really heats up, who we can go to,” Esmay said. “For them to already have a lot of [at-bats] and innings, they are in a position where they are primed and ready to perform. We’re getting everything we are looking for, and I think the wins are kind of the byproduct of these guys preparing themselves the way they do day in and day out.”

The Sun Devils have done more with less this season in their attempt to adjust to the loss of the power game that came from the bats last season of sluggers Jason Kipnis and Carlos Ramirez, who combined to hit 35 home runs and 146 RBI in 2009.

With just nine home runs through the team’s first 11 games, ASU has been manufacturing runs in bunches to begin the season, averaging just more than 11 runs per contest.

“You have to take things game by game, and right now we’re just locked into the process,” Esmay said.

Ain’t it Grand

The Grand Canyon Antelopes (14-10) are coached by Dave Stapleton, an alum of the school who has been a part of the staff for 17 seasons, including the past 10 as the head coach.

Stapleton pitched for two seasons in the Major Leagues — one of 13 former Antelope players to make it to The Show — in 1987 and 1988 as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers and has accumulated more than 200 wins at the helm of GCU, which is a part of the Pacific West Conference of the NCAA Division II.

Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu

MAN OF THE YEAR: ASU head coach Herb Sendek directs the men's basketball team during its 73-69 win over UA last month. Sendek was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year on Monday. (Photo by Kyle Thompson)

If you know the personality of ASU coach Herb Sendek, you knew that Monday was going to be just another day of practice and preparation, even after he was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year earlier that day.

If it were up to Sendek, the award would be shared with everybody involved with the program.

“I’m certainly flattered,” Sendek said. “It is obviously a team reward in many respects. Our coaching staff is so heavily relied on and our players play the game. It is flattering, but most certainly shared.”

In his fourth season at the helm of ASU, Sendek led the Sun Devils to a second-place finish in the conference after being projected by the media at the beginning of the season to finish seventh.

Sendek is the first ASU men’s basketball coach to win the honor since Ned Wulk took home the award after the 1979-80 season.
While the award is rare for ASU, it isn’t for Sendek. This is his third time winning the Coach of the Year of the conferenc as a Division I head coach, winning at Miami (OH) and at North Carolina State.

He was business as usual at practice on Monday, but his players knew that he was proud of the award.

“I could tell,” junior guard Ty Abbott said. “He tries to act like it is just another day, but I went up to him and shook his hand and he had a little smirk on his face. You can tell he is proud of what he has done and what we have done.”

Abbott was also honored by the Pac-10 on Monday, as he was named First Team All-Pac-10

“It is an honor to be mentioned with all the great guys that are in this league right now,” Abbott said. “It has been a long journey and I am excited about it.”

From where he was at this time last season, becoming a first-team all-league player is a tremendous accomplishment.

Despite the struggles Abbott has gone through, he said he always had the goal of being named to the first team and never let that slip from the back of his mind.

“It is hard to say that you want to play and not be mentioned with the best guys in the conference,” Abbott said. “It was a goal for me, especially coming off of last year. It is good to be able to achieve it.”

Abbott gave credit to Sendek and used his honor as an example as to why Sendek was named Coach of the Year.
“He does a great job working with us players — I am an example of that,” Abbott said. “Coach Sendek does a great job with development and it has paid off. That is a testament to him.”

Freshman guard Trent Lockett was named to the Pac-10’s All-Freshman team.

“He had a tremendous first year for us,” Sendek said. “Playing on a team that had some success helped, but he played a really big part on our team and his efforts were recognized.”

Lockett and Sendek set achieving Pac-10 First-Team All-Freshman honors as a goal right after Lockett committed to ASU.

“That was our goal before I came here, and it feels good to meet that goal,” Lockett said. “It was exciting to work hard to try and obtain that goal, and now that I have that goal, it is a good feeling.”

It seems that Sendek’s “all about business” attitude has already worn off on Lockett. While humbled by the honor, his focus was still on the task at hand.

“I heard about it today, called my mom and moved on,” Lockett said. “We have Stanford coming up. We need to win these games so we can maybe make the NCAA [Tournament].”

Senior guard Derek Glasser was named Honorable Mention all-conference team, while senior center Eric Boateng was named Honorable Mention all-defensive team.

Cal senior guard Jerome Randle was named Pac-10 Player of the Year, Oregon State senior guard Seth Tarver was named Defensive Player of the Year, UA freshman forward Derrick Williams was the Freshman of the Year and USC sophomore forward Nikola Vucevic was named Most Improved Player of the Year.

All-Pac 10 First Team

Jr. Ty Abbott, ASU

Sr. Patrick Christopher, Cal

Sr. Landry Fields, Stanford

Sr. Quincy Pondexter, UW

Sr. Jerome Randle, Cal

Sr. Michael Roll, UCLA

So. Isaiah Thomas, UW

So. Klay Thompson, WSU

Fr. Derrick Williams, UA

Sr. Nic Wise, UA

All-Pac 10 Second Team

Sr. Jamal Boykin, Cal

So. Jeremy Green, Stanford

Jr. Calvin Haynes, Oregon St.

Sr. Theo Robertson, Cal

So. Nikola Vucevic, USC

Honorable Mention

So. DeAngelo Casto, WSU

Sr. Derek Glasser, ASU

Sr. Dwight Lewis, USC

Sr. Roeland Schaftenaar, OSU

Sr. Seth Tarver, OSU

All-Freshman Team

Tyler Honeycutt, UCLA

Trent Lockett, ASU

Reggie Moore, WSU

Reeves Nelson, UCLA

Derrick Williams, UA

All-Defensive Team

DeAngelo Casto, WSU

Jorge Gutierrez, Cal

Justin Holliday, Washington

Venoy Overton, Washington

Seth Tarver, OSU

Honorable Mention All-Defensive Team

Sr. Eric Boateng, ASU

Sr. Patrick Christopher, Cal

Sr. Marcus Johnson, USC

So. Nikola Vucevic, USC

Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu