The 2001-02 men's basketball season has been over for a little more than a month and summer workouts have just begun, but the Sun Devils are already shorthanded.
ASU sophomore guard Kenny Crandall is projected to be sidelined for three months after suffering a broken fibula just above his right ankle when attempting to ride a dirt bike for the first time April 14. He has been hospitalized at Tempe St. Luke's since Wednesday and could be released as early as today.
Doctors estimate Crandall will need an additional six weeks of rehab after his ankle is fully healed. Crandall is scheduled to get married May 18 but will have to limp down the aisle with the assistance of crutches.
The Sun Devils have been training for the past month in preparation for next season. Crandall is expected to miss a majority of the workouts, which include conditioning, lifting weights and various shooting drills.
"It's just one of those things that happens," ASU head coach Rob Evans said. "We wish it hadn't happened, but you can't put a circle around every kid. If there's a positive to it, it's the timing because he has time to get back in shape."
Crandall's teammates have poked fun at the incident by nicknaming him "Kenny Kent," in reference to San Francisco Giants second baseman Jeff Kent, who fractured his wrist when allegedly washing his truck last month. Reports later surfaced that Kent wiped out on his motorcycle in Scottsdale, minutes away from the Giants' training complex.
Evans does not have any restrictions as to what his players can and cannot do in their spare time. But he does not welcome the idea of them partaking in potentially dangerous activities, like dirt bike riding.
"I don't think it's something I would encourage," Evans said. "But (Crandall) could have walked into the middle of the street and gotten hit."
Crandall missed six games this past season after sustaining a sprained ligament in his right foot during ASU's 90-81 loss at Stanford. The two injuries are not related. Crandall averaged 6.6 points per game in Pac-10 play before going down.
"He really started to play pretty well before getting injured. He was starting to get his legs underneath him and get his timing back," Evans said. "With him healthy, we had some pieces in place. It hurt us when he got injured because we lost some outside shooting and some experience."
The Mesa Mountain View High School product returned for the final two games of the regular season but averaged only 5.5 points per contest as the Sun Devils were swept at home by the Bay Area schools.
Crandall scored just three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field in ASU's 73-56 loss to UA in the Pac-10 tournament. He went scoreless in eight minutes when ASU's season came to an end March 12 with a 96-91 setback at Nevada-Las Vegas in the National Invitation Tournament.
Crandall finished the conference season with an average of 7.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. The former missionary shot 50 percent (28 of 56) from the field and 45.7 percent (21 of 46) from three-point range in Pac-10 play. He scored in double figures in five games last season.
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
