LAS VEGAS -- Junior forward Ike Diogu and sophomore guard Kevin Kruger walked shoulder to shoulder out of the Thomas & Mack Center visitor's locker room, leaving behind a season full of shortcomings.
Not much could be said Thursday night after the ASU men's basketball team suffered an 89-78 loss to Nevada-Las Vegas in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament.
Diogu and Kruger will be the cornerstone of next year's team, but only if Diogu resists the temptation of jumping to the NBA and stays for his senior season. If Diogu leaves, Kruger could become the primary option, given his impressive combination of ball-handing skills and touch from the outside.
For ASU, there is at least one forgone conclusion: The first couple weeks of the off-season will be filled with more questions than answers.
Will Diogu take a page out of former ASU quarterback Andrew Walter's playbook and remain in maroon and gold? Will ASU coach Rob Evans return for an eighth season? Can the Sun Devils get over the hump without wholesale changes to their offensive and defensive schemes?
Diogu said earlier this month that it would be difficult for him to return if Evans is fired. Evans has two years left on a contract that carries a buyout of about $1 million.
Athletic Director Gene Smith said he planned on evaluating Evans after the season, although that doesn't mean much since Smith will depart for Ohio State next month. President Michael Crow has remained mum on Evans, whose team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament just once the last seven years.
"I think he should be back, but it's not up to me," Diogu said. "A coach can only go so far and then the players have to do the rest. He put us in position to win a lot of games. Some of them we won and some of them we didn't win."
Diogu said he hasn't set a timetable for making a decision about whether he'll be back next season. He doesn't have to rush. The NBA pre-draft camp runs June 7-10 in Chicago. The NBA draft is scheduled for June 28.
Some pro scouts have Diogu projected as a mid-to-late, first-round pick. Others think Diogu won't go until the second round.
"I've always been capable," Diogu said when asked whether he feels more prepared to make the jump now than last season.
Putting the NBA aside, Diogu called ASU's season a disappointment.
"We didn't accomplish what we set out to," Diogu said. "That's kind of frustrating because we had the talent to make it to where we wanted to, but we just didn't do it."
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
