It was the spring of 2006 and Herb Sendek was roughly a month into his tenure as the ASU men's basketball coach.
He was already hard at work, on the road recruiting and making the rounds with University officials and alumni.
On this day, we find Sendek at an upscale restaurant on Powell Street in San Francisco with Sun Devil Club employee Roy Shick. They're meeting with entrepreneur Mark Arshinkoff and his fellow ASU alum Scott Cacchione for breakfast to discuss the Halo Club, a nonprofit University program to help local kids.
They enjoy a nice breakfast and look at each other after the bill is paid.
"What are you doing today?," Arshinkoff asks.
Shick responds, "I don't know, hanging out with you."
Cacchione isn't able to hang around, but Arshinkoff gives the duo a tour of the city until heading to a San Francisco Giants baseball game for an ASU alumni function.
During the mingling, Sendek gives an impromptu spiel regarding the Halo Club and its mission.
On the spot, he gets hundreds of dollars in donations.
How’s that for a debut?
The Halo Club, founded in 2006 by Arshinkoff and now comprised of five volunteers, gives local children a chance to see ASU men’s basketball games for free.
With a $100 donation to the Sun Devil Club, donors can buy season tickets, which the Halo Club donates to local charities. Organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona, Boys and Girls Club Arizona Alliance and Valley of the Sun YMCA then give the tickets to lucky kids across the Valley.
“[Sendek] has been a huge proponent to our program,” Arshinkoff said. “He sees that it’s benefitting athletics as well as the game-day experience at ASU. He also understands the community aspect. He’s a very sharp man.”
What made Sendek’s pitch even more impressive was the fact the Halo Club didn’t even directly benefit his team at the time.
In its initial year, the club only gave free tickets to football games before switching over to basketball in 2007.
Arshinkoff and company sold about 250 season passes in 2006, but he said he expects more contributions for the upcoming basketball season.
Ten times more, to be exact.
That’s right, Arshinkoff said the program’s goal is to have 2,500 rowdy kids in the stands for every game by the team’s home Pac-10 Conference opener against Oregon State on Jan. 8.
Arshinkoff estimates about 500 kids, eighth grade or younger, have been “touched” by the Halo Club since its inception.
With thousands of kids involved with the Halo Club’s partner charities, Arshinkoff said he sees potential for a massive impact on the community.
“Our goal is to have the [nation’s] longest consecutive home sellout streak [at Wells Fargo Arena on Tempe campus],” he said. “The kids benefit first and foremost. No. 2, the basketball team — they love to play in front of a sell-out crowd. No. 3, the athletics department is going to benefit from the additional funding.”
Arshinkoff graduated from ASU in 1991 with a degree in electrical engineering and recently moved to the Valley after living in San Francisco for 12 years.
He said the University originally approached him to run the Northern California Sun Angel foundation chapter. Among other things, Arshinkoff would have been responsible for an alumni golf tournament designed to raise funds.
But that wasn’t enough for Arshinkoff. He said he needed something more “scalable” with a “bigger and deeper meaning.”
“I wanted to have a higher purpose for the giving,” he said.
For more information, visit www.sundevilhaloclub.com.
Reach the reporter at alex.espinoza@asu.edu.
