INSIDE THE NUMBERS

2000-01 record: 14-15; 7-11 in Pac-10 (7th) Postseason: Lost to UNLV 96-91 in first round of NIT. RETURNING LEADERS Points: Millage 13.5 Rebs: Smith 5.3 Assists: Millage 2.5 FG: Redhage 52.7% 3pt: Crandall 45.3% FT: Crandall 75.0% 01-02 Stats: ASU | Pac-10 KEY LOSSES Chad Prewitt | 17.0 ppg PROJECTED STARTERS G | Jason Braxton | Soph G | Curtis Millage | Senior F | Tommy Smith | Senior F | Jamal Hill | Junior C | Ike Diogu | Fresh Player to Watch Curtis Millage Senior Guard Will be asked to add a few more points and lot more leadership. DATE TO REMEMBER Nov. 25 Early-season upsets are the norm in college basketball, and ASU is athletic enough to stay with the Wildcats in Maui.

 

ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS

It took Rob Evans four years to make Mississippi an NCAA-caliber team. This is year No. 5 for him in Tempe, and there is no guarantee the Sun Devils will be basking in the madness come March. Evans turned down a lucrative offer to coach New Mexico, hoping some promising wins during a roller-coaster season last year coupled with a strong recruiting class might mean ASU is ready for the next step. The Sun Devils are certainly more athletic than past seasons under Evans, and it's always positive when you return a capable starting backcourt (senior Curtis Millage and sophomore Jason Braxton). Tommy Smith is the lone returning starter up front, but the senior forward will have help from newcomers like freshman forward/center Ike Diogu (6-8, 235), who Evans calls "a young Karl Malone." This is for sure: ASU can't shoot 65.6 percent on free-throws again (worst in the Pac-10 last year) and can't have Braxton make only 38.5 percent of his shots if it expects to challenge for a top-five conference finish. Freshman wing Jamal Hill (6-6, 200) has needed range.

TOUGH ENOUGH..............................
Shoddy outside shooting last season made strong inside play critical, and it's an area where ASU should be even better. Diogu -- who averaged 23 points and 11.5 rebounds as a senior in high school -- will battle for big-time minutes. Chris Osborne, a 6-9 senior, will pick up all the dirty work and toughness lost by the departure of Awvee Storey. Another promising youngster to go with Diogu is forward Serge Angounou, who's not afraid to mix things up.

TOUGH ENOUGH?..............................
ASU lost its leading scorer in center Chad Prewitt, and while Smith might not be able to match the 17-point scoring average, he should emerge the team's leader in all phases. That will demand he stay on the court. Fouls and turnovers have limited Smith for three years in the program, and he needs to demonstrate more mental toughness. He has NBA quickness, but seems to wear down late in seasons. Smith needs to be strong in mind and body for ASU to succeed.

BOTTOM LINE..............................
ASU is better than last season, when it beat Arizona for the first time in seven years, but then dropped its final five games to finish 14-15. But the schedule -- open against Kentucky in the Maui Classic, vs. Purdue in Las Vegas -- is difficult. Deeper and better at the defensive end, ASU has enough to finish the Pac-10 race in fourth if everything falls right. If not, this remains a bubble team come Selection Sunday.