When a second team All-American bolts for the NBA a year early, it can leave a gaping hole in the middle of the lineup.
Freshman center Jeff Pendergraph wanted to help fill the void left by Ike Diogu, but he knew he had to earn his opportunity.
"I was tired of sitting down," he said. "I wanted to play really bad, but I knew I had to wait my turn. When coach was ready to put me in, I had to be ready to perform."
Pendergraph is proving to be worth the wait.
He saw limited action early in the season, but played his way into the starting lineup after a breakout game in a 75-71 loss to Utah Valley State on Dec. 10, in which he scored a career-high 20 points off the bench and pulled down nine rebounds.
The lanky 6-foot-10-inch post player is averaging 8.4 points and five rebounds in slightly less than 20 minutes per game, but it is his enormous upside and work ethic that has won over his teammates.
"He's come in here as a true freshman with some pretty big shoes to fill and it really hasn't affected him at all," shooting guard Kevin Kruger said. "Good things come to people who work hard, and that's what's happening to him."
Pendergraph is quickly making a name for himself in the Pac-10 despite playing at less than full strength.
His development suffered a setback in the summer during a routine physical. The doctor discovered a benign tumor growing in his left femur and advised him to have pre-emptive surgery to have it removed.
The procedure kept Pendergraph from participating in preseason conditioning and practice, and he said he is still trying to work his way into shape.
"It put me back about four months," he said of the surgery. "My leg is still not as strong as I want it to be right now."
But coach Rob Evans added that Pendergraph's discipline has already made him better offensively than he was at this time last year as a high school player.
"Jeff is a lot like Ike [Diogu] in the fact that whatever you tell him he needs to do, he's going to work on it," Evans said. "He's worked on his jump hook and has a 15 to 18-foot range, but he'll continue to develop that to where he can get to 3-point range."
Pendergraph has experienced his share of growing pains at this stage of his career. His minutes have been limited because of frequent foul trouble.
Pendergraph said his bum leg is not an excuse for his lagging defense.
"My defense is not where it needs to be right now," he said. "I'm reacting late on the ball, so I'm getting stuck behind the post man. Since I don't like people scoring on me, I end up fouling them. I just need to learn to let the play go sometimes."
Pendergraph will have his hands full in the paint at the defensive end of the floor when ASU takes on California tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.
California power forward Leon Powe is averaging 19.4 points per game this season and leads the Pac-10 in rebounding at a 10.4 per-game clip.
"It's going to be a challenge," Pendergraph said. "This is probably the biggest test post-wise that we've had so far."
But Pendergraph has been up to the challenge all season.
"He's a very intelligent young man who wants to be a great player and he will be a great player," Evans said. "The sky is the limit for Jeff Pendergraph."
Reach the reporter at derrik.miller@asu.edu.
