Inside perspective
As an assistant coach at Marquette last season, UA assistant coach Mark Phelps couldn’t help but watch the Sun Devils for fun last season.
After all, he was Sendek’s associate head coach at ASU during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, and had worked with UA’s Sean Miller under Sendek at North Carolina State before that.
Now Phelps gets paid to do it, breaking down what Bobby Hurley has done with ASU as the Wildcats' game scout. He knows it won’t be easy.
Their success “didn’t surprise me a lot because I watched from a distantce,” Phelps said. “I knew Tra Holder was a terrific player, that Kodi Justice was a very gifted talent, that Savon Goodman is as athletic as anybody. I knew Eric Jacobsen was as rugged and sturdy as any inside player and Willie Atwood, from the recruiting process I knew his name was constantly popping up as one of the best frontcourt players” in junior college.
